Belief and Trust
by Apathetic Sympathy
Summary: Mike Schmidt is hired at Freddy Fazbear's during a low point in his life. With meager pay, animatronics out to kill him, and a total mental breakdown looming in his future he finally reaches out for help from his twin sister. With the naive hope to make the animatronics see him as human, will he survive his nights at Freddy's?
1. Two Nights of Terror

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story. **

Michael Schmidt had never thought himself to be anything special. He was as average as anyone could be, blending into the background and never sticking out. Being quieter than most, perhaps a little bit on the shy side, hadn't ever helped him make friends or land the better jobs. It could be said that his tendency to be a wallflower was the reason he was in the position he was; friendless, jobless, and unable to change that fact. Sometimes he wished he could be more like his twin sister, who looked so much like him, but was far better at interacting with others. The funny thing was that while she was able to be sociable she often chose not to, but at least she had a job to pay her rent.

He sighed as he went back to reading through the paper's job ads, going through each column with a sigh noting that three of the ads were actually jobs he previously held… before being fired that is. Running his hand through slightly greasy dark brown hair he let out another sigh. He was just about to admit defeat for the day when he saw a familiar image above an ad for a night guard.

Help Wanted

Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria

Family pizzeria looking for security guard to work the nightshift.

12 am to 6 am.

Monitor cameras, ensure safety of equipment and anamtronic characters.

Not responsible for injury/dismemberment.

$120 a week.

To apply call:

1-888-FAZ-BEAR

Mike remembered the old pizzeria his family used to frequent quite often. Their mother was sick, and so in an effort to cheer up his children every few weekends they would go to the Pizzeria. Other children in their grade would have their birthdays there as well, so they'd go quite a few times in a year. Both himself and Morganna, his sister, loved going there. Being naive children they talked to the animatronics and believed them to be sentient, to be their friends. Of course as they grew up they realized it hadn't been true, but the memories were happy none the less, bright moments in the darkness of their childhood.

With their mother being ill and her health only declining they watched as she got worse and worse up until the day of her death. Money issues were a large concern as well, their father working as much as he could while still visiting his wife and taking care of their children. There were nights they went to bed hungry, days when they didn't have a lunch to eat during school, but they made it through. So Mike wasn't new to being impoverished and barely getting by. After their mother's death the family had moved to a small rundown apartment in the next town over, so they never went to Freddy Fazbear's again. Eventually their father died too, literally working himself to death with multiple jobs as he attempted to pay of the accumulation of debt while still keeping himself and his children fed.

Mike shook his head of the thoughts, there wasn't any use dwelling on the past when he had his own current problems to worry about. Pulling out an old worn Nokia phone he punched in the number and hit send.

"Hello. You've reached Freddy Fazbear's Pizzaria, a magical place for children and adults alike. Business hours are between 9 am and 8 pm. How can I help you?" A tired teen voice sounded on the other end. Faintly he could hear some screaming children in the background, he winced, not envying her one bit at that moment.

"A-Ah yes, Hello. I was calling about the Night Guard position advertised in the paper," he stuttered, hoping he didn't sound too pathetic.

"Oh. Umm… Alright one moment," the girl on the other end said, pausing as if she wanted to say something for a moment before leaving him on the line.

"Hello? You're inquiring about the Night Guard position?"

"Yes, sir. I can come in for an interview at any time," he replied, again hoping that he didn't sound too pathetic or over eager.

"Oh, no need. You've got the job. Actually can you start tonight?"

"What? Oh, yes. I'm available to start tonight."

"Good, if you can get here by nine I can show you around the place, make sure you've got a handle on the basics of the job and draw up your contract. Just wear something casual for tonight. I'll give you a jacket to wear over it and you can wear the required uniform tomorrow night."

"Y-Yes sir, I'll be there at nine then," Mike finished, a grin on his face. It was a little strange he'd been hired so quickly, but he wasn't complaining. He needed the money, and getting to see the place after so long as sure to bring back some good memories. Checking the time he knew he had a few hours before he needed to get ready, but it didn't hurt to get an early start, he thought to himself as he headed to his bathroom.

* * *

"Alright, you'll just want to sign there, there, and finally initial there," The man in front of him said, pointing out the lines to sign. Mike tried to skim the contract, but was assured that it was standard stuff and not wanting to make the man more irritated than he already seemed to be he just signed where he pointed.

"There we go! Welcome to the Freddy Fazbear Family. Now just so you know you have to work all five nights in order to be paid. Also anything regarding the company is not to be shared with any outside sources of course, unless you want to be risked being sued. Now, follow me and I'll show you around the restaurant," the larger man, who had introduced himself as Mr. Becker the current manager of Fazbear Entertainment, ushered Mike out of the room.

Mike on one hand was glad to get the job and everything, but honestly couldn't believe how strange the whole situation was. Meekly he followed the man out into the hallway, listening has he pointed out the various rooms with cameras and mentioning that the kitchen had one, but only the audio was working currently.

"And here we have the stars of the restaurant," he said, waving his arm to the three animatronics. "Freddy Fazbear himself, Bonnie the Bunny, and Chica D. Chicken, they bring hope to many children Mr. Schmidt, so be sure to make sure nothing happens to them."

Mike nodded, "Of course sir."

"Good good, glad to hear it son. Now your office is this way. You should have no trouble figuring out the security system. You youngsters always know how to use the new technologies and all that. Oh, but be careful not to use too much power. Budget cuts have to be made, and so for the night we only allot a small amount of power to be used. The doors are precautionary for your safety, but they open if you use up on the power, so don't use them if you don't have to. And that's all you need to know. The day manager will be here at the end of your shift, so just let them in and you can leave. Good luck son. I'm sure you'll do great," The man listed off information so fast that it took everything Mike had follow it all and at the end he had a strange feeling. Everything about this job was just so strange so far. As soon as he was done the stuff he'd need was practically shoved into his hands before the man was out the door, the last one to leave for the night that Mike knew of, since he'd seen the cleaning crew leave about ten minutes ago.

He sighed, struggling not to drop everything as he made his way back to the security office. Dumping the pile of stuff in to the chair he sorted through it quickly. He pulled on the hat over slightly curly dark hair, but hung the jacket and rest of the security uniform on the back of the chair. It was summertime, and rather hot in the building. Thankfully a fan was already running on the desk to keep the air flowing at least. He pulled the new belt through his pants next, securing it and putting the torch and Taser in the correct spots. Looking at the clock he saw it was only 11:30, not even midnight yet. He pulled of the messenger bag he'd brought with him and pulled out his water bottle. Noticing it was empty and knowing he still had half an hour left before his shift even started he went to the restrooms to fill it up with tap water.

On his way back to the office he stopped outside of Pirate Cove for a moment. Reaching out to the curtains he started to pull them back before dropping them with a sigh. There was no more Foxy he was sure, not after that day in 1987. He was sure that the pizzeria had gotten rid of the Pirate animatronic if only to try to prevent any further backlash from the public for that day. He didn't want to think about it anymore and moved back to his office.

When the clock struck midnight Mike jumped as the phone blared loudly. "Hello? I'm sorry but business hours are-"

"_Hello, hello? Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night. Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I'm finishing up my last week now, as a matter of fact. So, I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about. Uh, you'll do fine. So, let's just focus on getting you through your first week. Okay? …. . Gotta conserve power. Alright, good night."_

The message seemed to go on and on, with Mike increasingly feeling a strange cold spread through his being. What did he mean the animatronics wandered? What kind of programing would even tell them to stuff a person into one of their suits? How the heck could their programming not recognize that a person was a person regardless if it was day or night? Was this just a joke? He knew about the bite of '87 that the guard had mentioned… but everything else. It had to be a joke, it sounded far too surreal, but then… there was all the strangeness surrounding the job. The way the manager hadn't even asked for a resume and hired him over the phone, practically forced him to sign the contract without giving him a chance to read it. The whole situation was screaming something was very wrong.

Checking the cameras he didn't see anything out of the ordinary until he reached the camera covering the stage.

"What!? Where's Bonnie. Is this… What is this?" He muttered under his breath as he flipped from camera to camera not finding Bonnie. Finally he found Bonnie in the supply closet, staring right at the camera. He shuddered, "What are you even doing in there Bonnie?"

An increase feeling of dread hit him as he heard shuffling in the hallway of some kind. Checking the cameras again he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, until he realized that Chica was nowhere to be seen this time. He checked the lights by the doors, not sure if the cameras had blind spots or not and was greeted with the animatronic chicken's face staring at him through the window. He froze for a moment, eyes wide before he slammed his fist over the door button.

He let out a choked noise as he continued to stare into her eyes before pressing the light button again with a shaking hand. He took a deep breath trying to calm down. Losing his composure could cost him his life. He had to treat this like… like a video game. He hadn't the time to play one in a long time… but he used to quite often. He could do this. Checking the clock he saw it was 3 am. Only three more hours of this, he could do it.

He checked the cameras often, making sure he knew where everyone was. The doors were open most of the rest of the night, Chica presumably in the kitchen for the rest of the night and Bonnie visiting three times before 6 am popped up. Checking the feeds he saw that the animatronics were all back in place and with a sigh of relief he wiped the sweat from his brow. His hands were trembling badly when he grabbed his stuff and headed towards the front door, only just glancing at the trio as he walked by. He shifted his weight from foot to foot as he watched the day manager walk slowly from her car.

He opened the door for her, noticing the incredulous look that crept onto her face.

"A-Ah Good morning… how was your night?" She managed to cough out as she entered the building.

"Rough, b-but I'll be back tonight," he stuttered out before quickly leaving, not awaiting a reply. He didn't want to come back, but again he needed the money. If he was being truthful he was curious as well, as to why the animatronics acted the way they did at night. He was still terrified to come back and when he got home and went to bed, the little sleep he got was riddled by nightmares of being grabbed and ripped apart or stuffed into one of the suits by one of his childhood friends.

* * *

The next night was no better. By 1 am both Bonnie and Chica were wandering around the restaurant. At 3 am Mike realized he had forty percent of battery left because he'd had to keep the doors down so often. The phone guy left another message that hadn't helped him out much. He'd already learned of the blind spots, the information would have been nice the previous night. He hadn't listened to most of the message this time, too busy tracking Bonnie who had left the stage as soon as it hit midnight.

He was sweating and trembling as he looked at the cameras and check the door lights. Jittery and bouncing his leg up and down, he realized that perhaps it was a mistake to drink so much caffeine before his shift. He stood up and walked around the chair, hoping that the jitters would leave so they didn't impair his concentration too much as he leaned on the back wall trying to breathe deeply to calm himself down again. He taped the tablet checking the cameras again before lowering it and taping on the lights again

He slammed the door down on the left again when he saw Chica's face through the window for the umpteenth time that night.

"Please give me a break Chica, this is just the second night," he sobbed out, not above begging in his terrified state.

Opening the door when he saw she'd gone away for the moment he heard something moving rapidly in the hallway and slammed the same door down again before seeing a familiar face pop into the room from the other still open door. A screech emitted from the animatronic fox the same time that Mike let out a scream and dropped the tablet all together.

Panicking he grabbed the chair he stood in front of and swung it at the fox and let go, the force pushing the animatronic back enough for him to slam down the door. His knees trembled and he fell to the floor in a heap, loud sobs ripping out of his throat as tears poured from his eyes. He flinched as the fox slammed against the door.

"I'm sorry Foxy, but I don't want to die!" He yelled almost hysterically out as the fox slammed against the door again. Biting back more sobs he shakily reached towards the tablet again, thankful to note that the drop hadn't broken it. If it had broken then he'd be dead, unable to know where any of the animatronics were until it would be too late, the thought churned his stomach and he tried to push it from his mind. Righting the chair he took a seat again and quickly opened the doors once he saw no one was there.

The rest of the night went past in a blur as he just barely managed to keep himself together. When the manager pulled up in her car he didn't bother to wait for her, rushing out without a word this time, barley hearing her stuttered greeting.

The first thing he did when he got home was call his sister, while they were on speaking terms and had a very good relationship, he didn't like to bother her. His life was continuing in a downward spiral, while hers went up, he didn't want to drag her down, but he needed her at that moment.

"Hello?" He couldn't have been happier to hear her cranky, 'why would you ever be up this early' voice.

"Morganna, I need you. I really, really need you right now. C-Can you please come over no- sometime today?" He stuttered out.

"It must be bad if you've abandoned the nicknaming nightmare. You still live in that shitty apartment?"

"Yes."

"I'll be over in half an hour."

* * *

**AN :: First allow me to thank you for taking the time to read my fanfic! This is my first time in a long while actually writing something and posting it up, but the words won't leave my brain alone and I thought why not. I actually told myself 'no you will not get into this fandom' and yet here I am enjoying ever depraved minute of it. I did want to warn those wanting to continue reading of a few things.  
**

**First off, I will most likely be putting Foxy and Mike in a romantic relationship. It's the only thing I ship for this fandom really and I know it's a bit strange for some people. 'He's an animatronic!' they say. I say I'm very attracted to GLaDOS and EDI, so yeah. Computers, animatronics, AIs, same thing, totally going ship it regardless, my fanfiction, my ship. **

**Secondly, there is an OC as you may have noticed! A female OC who will later be in a relationship with another female OC. Why you ask? Because it happened. I have most of the story prewritten, I'm just adding scenes and editing, and the pair seriously just kind of happened without me realizing it until they kissed. Yeah. So Yuri and Yaoi of sorts. So if you have problem with either I suggest not reading this story.**

**Thirdly, feedback is always appreciated. If you have a suggestion, comment, or concern, feel free to review or pm me. Thank you again for your time and have a wonderful day or night!**

**Edit to AN : I just wanted to clarify something. The Foxy x Mike ship is going to be a gradual thing and not very physical in nature. Think Garrus and Fem!Shep and their adorableness without much shown physicality. It'll be a while before it becomes a thing.**


	2. Two Nights of Fun

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

That night was strange, instead of becoming aware at midnight exactly, it was about a quarter till when Foxy came fully online again. He was in a sort of sleep mode during the day, only actively online and aware when there was movement directly in front of him. He wondered what brought him online before he noticed curtains start to open before fluttering shut before they were fully open. It was… strange to say the least. Quietly he leaned out and just vaguely saw the back of a man. That was… peculiar, considering that it was almost midnight and no humans stayed at the pizzeria that late.

At midnight the clock chimed and all other thoughts flew from Foxy's processor. It was, after all, just another night at Freddy Fazbear's. The humans were all gone and a lone endoskeleton would most likely be in the back office again, and if Foxy was being truthful he would admit that he quite enjoyed the chase they had going. Well, considering that he didn't do anything during the day any more it would be hard to imagine why he wouldn't like the chase. There wasn't much to do in the Pizzeria at night, since the others were too focused on the chase to talk and he doubted they had much to say to him anyway.

It wasn't that Foxy didn't get along with the others, they got on fine all things considered. Still, he felt like they didn't like him anymore. The more he thought about it, he wasn't sure they ever really liked him, especially considering the fact that he had never been a part of the band, just a side show that sometimes actually stole the show from them back when he did preform, before '87. It was his fault that they couldn't walk around anymore too, and while they didn't say anything, he knew they missed actually interacting with the children. While the thoughts sometimes plagued him it was unlikely he'd ever bring them up. Besides, even if he did suddenly get the urge to confront the band, well the game had everyone too busy.

It had been about two days since they caught the last endoskeleton and properly suited them up, and as always the endoskeleton had promptly stopped working. It was strange, all the endos that just never worked with the suit. Well regardless management always cleaned up the red oil they leaked and got rid of them, perhaps sending them back to where ever they came from before getting a new endo to replace it.

Peeking out of his curtain at midnight he watched the camera closely to see if there was a new endo watching just yet. It flickered on for a few moments before flickering off. If he could've moved his jaw a bit more it would have formed a rather fearsome grin. He probably wouldn't run out tonight, but he was excited for the next night.

Meanwhile onstage similar thoughts were going through the band's heads. Well, except for Chica, she just couldn't wait to get to kitchen. Of course she'd try to trip up the endoskeleton every now and then after she popped her special pizzas in the oven. She was so fast though, it wasn't hard for her to trip him up quite a few times during the night even spending most of it in the kitchen.

Bonnie couldn't wait for the chase to start. He was especially fond of the strange noises all the endoskeletons made, screeches and screams and whimpers. He could only scream, his vocal components weren't that advanced, they let him sing and talk, but other noises were a no. He wondered why so much work went into endos that never worked in their proper suits, but he wasn't in charge of the establishment.

Freddy was excited, but tired. Freddy was tired more often than not anymore. He loved the children, but they were becoming more and more rambunctious with each generation. Even though they weren't supposed to have physical contact with children any more, the day guard as of late wasn't very good at keeping the children back. Saucy hands would pull on their suits, small bodies would try to climb them too. It was worse than when they could actually walk around, perhaps because the children that did break the rules weren't exactly the best behaved.

So while Freddy was excited, he would rest for a bit. Bide his time and let the others have their fun. If they hadn't caught the endo in a few days he would start moving around. Besides he was quite content to just using his processor to pass the time, idly solving equations and reviewing new knowledge he had heard that day. They were self-learning after all, each new piece of information had to be processed to determine its truth. Though the others were less interested in his knowledge; Bonnie preferred only to go over new music related information and Chica only wanted to go over food related news unlike their leader who liked to know anything new to him. He was the eldest of the animatronics though. Foxy was the only one who would listen to his knowledge of history, but the fox rarely leaved the cove and only when there wasn't an endo. It concerned him a bit, but he never brought it up, unsure how to go about it.

As it struck midnight Bonnie was off leaving Freddy and Chica on stage. They had seen the manager talking to a man earlier that night, and whenever that happened they had a new endo in the office. Bonnie rarely wasted time leaving his post when he knew there was a new chase a foot. Perhaps it was because he was a bunny.

At 2 am Chica shifted a bit.

"You finally off to the kitchen tonight missy?" Freddy asked, amusement colouring his voice.

"Hey, my pizzas are way better than the staffs. So yeah, I'm off the kitchen. I'll probably pay our endo a visit too. Who knows maybe we can get him fast and find out if this one'll work," she replied.

"Well good luck then Chica, have fun with your baking. I'll be here," he said with a nod before turning to the camera, he'd discovered that it tripped up some of the endos when he stared at it for some reason. Chica nodded and with that she was off, quick as a whistle as always. Sometimes Freddy could swear that she was faster than Foxy.

So the animatronics did their thing for the night, grudgingly admitting defeat at a quarter to six. Bonnie and Chica returned back to the stage.

"Hey Freddy, I think you're going to have fun with this one. It's totally disjointed, but it picked up the patterns and managed to have quick reactions despite its weird garbly noises and shrieks," Bonnie chuckled.

"It sure did sound weird Freddy! It sounded almost like when one of the children start crying. How strange. It even leaked," Chica interjected as she took up her plate and cupcake for the night.

"That is… disturbing almost. I wonder if it's malfunctioning," the bear said with a shrug. The band fell silent after, six am rolling around and their sleep mode activating for the next few hours.

* * *

The next night Foxy woke up at midnight, as expected, but felt slightly… disappointed. That second of human contact the night before had been something he had dreamt of for a long while, even if he'd never admit it. Being in pirate cove was lonely, and while he could talk to the others, his doubts stopped him. However, even if he was to talk to them, having contact with a human was different. It was in his program, to want to be loved and seen by humans. It had been so long since he'd performed or had contact with one. Though he'd just seen the man's back, it was the most contact he'd have with any human while active. Very rarely a mechanic would come and make sure he wasn't rusting, but it was during the day so he couldn't move, and most times they called him junk and didn't even do their job correctly.

If he'd been human he would sigh as he pushed the depressing thoughts from his processor and instead focused on the fact the chase was starting for the night. Starting to peek out of his curtain he could hear both Bonnie and Chica talking on stage.

"So how about it Chica? Wanna double team tonight? If we catch him quick you can spend the rest of the night cooking," Bonnie was telling Chica, his voice all excited.

"I guess it could be fun. But I'm still going to be cooking. I heard the boss ay we've got three party's booked for tomorrow, so I want the birthday children to have my special pizza," Chica replied with a shrug.

"Oi, don't be forgetting about 'ol Foxy lad. This pirate might just be the winner tonight. The endo hasn't even checked me cove yet and it's nearly one," he interjected, receiving a grin from Bonnie.

"Oh you're on, you old fox. I'll win for sure though, I've got this one in the bag." Bonnie replied with assurance and a larger grin than normal upon his face as he went off towards the security office. Chica stopped in the kitchen first, as always, but was quickly out on quite a few occasions.

The night progressed, and still the endo had yet to check the cove. Foxy progressed through his his movements, first moving back the curtain, then taking a step out, before fully being out of pirate cove. He waited another few minutes before finally rushing off down the corridor quickly, metal feet clinking on the tile loudly. Bonnie sighed and moved out of his way quickly, actually hoping the endo would shut the door so he didn't lose to the fox again.

Foxy braced for a semi painful slam against metal when heard one of the office door close loudly, but it hadn't been the one in front of him, so with a long and loud triumphant screech he entered the office. Though strangely enough the guard hadn't been sitting like most. The guard too started screaming as he saw Foxy, dropping the tablet thing that belonged to the office.

Foxy lunged forward, attempting to grab the endo, only to be shocked when the endo grabbed the chair in front of him and slammed it into him before letting go, the force of the blow forcing him back out into the hallway. Shocked and his metal frame strangely aching he registered the door closing. He snarled and slammed himself into the door a few times after getting up. He felt angry for once, the endo had hurt him, and it wasn't like he could be fixed if he broke.

He slammed against the door a last time, hearing the muffled sobs from within. His anger evaporated and instead was replaced by puzzlement. Why was the endo crying? How could the endo cry? They could all feel sadness, but crying wasn't possible. Why did the endo cry like one of the children? Surely that wasn't a new design, it would be strange to have a crying animatronic.

"I'm sorry Foxy, but I don't want to die!" The endo yelled out strangely. If Foxy could have, he would have frowned. Why was this endo acting so differently from the rest. Most of them screamed profanities that shouldn't have been known by the children friendly animatronics, but parents said them and it wasn't hard to find out the meanings from the workers of the restaurants so it wasn't al that strange. This however, was different. Looking into the office from the window he could see a strange liquid run down the endo's face, and with that Foxy left.

Returning to pirate cove, he kept his curtains closed, thinking about the strange endo. Why would the endo think he was going to die? They didn't exactly die after all, since they weren't living. Besides, how could it know that the other endos had all stopped working when being put into a suit. Then there was that liquid and crying. Was it malfunctioning? Foxy felt something odd about the situation.

As six am approached the others returned to their positions, Chica's pizzas just finished and sitting in the refrigerator for the cooks to warm up for the birthday children. While she hadn't caught the endo she was glad she had finished cooking everything she needed to that night. Bonnie was disappointed, since he hadn't caught the endo, but he was glad he hadn't lost to Foxy. All three band members were oblivious to the fact that Foxy had been forced out of the office by this endo. There wasn't any time to bring it up now, but Foxy decided that before they started the game the next night he'd tell them about his strange experience with the new endo. In the mean time he'd try to piece together the puzzle that was the current situation.

* * *

**AN :: Thank you for reading again! I'm having fun writing this, so if I can bring entertainment to a few others then I can be happy. New chapters will be out pretty fast. I've been editing some of what I've had written and adding in a few scenes here and there. Thank you again for reading and if you have any suggestions, comments, or concerns, as always feel free to review or PM me. Have a lovely day/night!  
**


	3. Bright Morning

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

Morganna Schmidt was far from ordinary, if only because she rejected the idea of such a thing. Opinionated and blunt, it wasn't that she couldn't make friends, but she chose not to. Socialising was easy enough for her when she wanted it to be, unlike Mike she wasn't shy nor did she have any sort of anxious feelings towards talking to others, but she was easily irritated. Few people didn't irritate her, the main one being her brother. Okay, that was a lie, he did irritate her, but in the way that she wanted to help him, not punch him in the face.

Unlike her brother who was overly concerned about others, without even realizing it to boot, she focused on her own achievements. In high school they both got jobs to support themselves after their father's death, and Morganna had made sure to get ones that would further what she wanted to go into; freelance programming projects, working at the local library and reading the books while she worked, being a late night gas station attendant so she could continue to read on her shift while still getting paid. Sure she didn't get much sleep, but she had enough money to put herself through school and keep food on Mike and her plates. Sleep was for the weak, and those that could afford it, and Mikey. She was the older sister (by a few minutes) after all.

Now that isn't to say Mike didn't work a lot as well, but he often got tied up in volunteer work, group projects, and weird shifts that ended with him getting stiffed hours. He was simply both a more selfless person than her, and she did freely admit she was quite selfish, as well as being more of a passive force to her more pushy nature. He'd gone to college, got all the basic classes done, but when push came to shove he didn't know what he wanted to do with his life, never giving it much though. One year off became two, then three and then they were both twenty-two years old before either one of them knew it. Morganna became a robotic engineer and Mike was still stuck, unsure of what he should do with his life.

Her brother was in a tough spot presently, but she knew he had to figure out what to do for himself; still she tried to offer support, asked if he wanted to live with her for a while, and he was always stubborn enough to refuse, stating he didn't want to be a burden. If she was truthful she worried about her brother quite often, knowing that sad state of the apartment he lived in, his lack of friends and lack of direction in life. He always brushed off her concern though, and she never pushed it.

Michael Schmidt was all around hopeless, but he was still her twin brother and the only one she really truly cared about in the world. So when she got a call from him, hearing him stutter and his voice tremble, she knew something was very wrong. He never called her for help, didn't want to bother or trouble her. The fact that he was this time met something was very, very wrong.

Riding her motorcycle to his apartment was quick and easy in the early hours of the morning, passing by cars going too slowly for her taste before finally parking on the curb in front of his apartment complex. Pulling the helmet from her head, dark brown wavy locks emerged messily, frizzy because she hadn't bothered to brush it. She even still wore her Iron Man pajama pants tucked into leather laced up boots and the matching shirt was covered by a matching leather jacket. Having only got into bed at three in the morning herself, getting up at seven was hell in itself and she was not getting dressed to see her brother. She'd have come in her undergarments if she hadn't been wearing anything that night, thankfully for him it was chilly enough at night for her to wear somthing to bed.

Walking into the building and up the steps to his floor she felt an increasing worry settle itself in her breastbone. The feeling only increased as she knocked on the door and was met with her brother's tired face. Tear trails were visible, smudged but there, and his whole body was minutely trembling.

After opening the door he practically launched himself at her and started sobbing, settling in the fact that something had gone horribly wrong. She held him in shocked silence before regaining control of herself and maneuvering them into his apartment and shutting the door behind her. Moving him to the couch she let him cry as he moved closer to her, his tears and snot most definitely getting into her hair. She grimaced, but continued to rub his back, muttering calming words.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity the sobs quieted and turned to deep breathing. She groaned, he fell asleep and she couldn't wake him after that sob fest. Closing her eyes she reluctantly got comfortable before forcing herself to fall back asleep in the strange position, she was tired too after all and answers would come soon enough.

* * *

"-ganna, Morg. Come on Anna, it's three in the afternoon," Mike said, lightly tapping his sister's cheek. He smiled as she grumbled in response.

"Five more minutes, and quit with the nicknames dumb ass."

"Five minutes actually means an hour with you. I-I actually need to talk with you though, about why I called you over," he replied. His voice started out fine, amused even, before he brought up the fact he needed to speak with her, stuttering over his words as though he dreaded to speak about what caused him to break down so badly, which he did. It concerned Morganna more than she would ever say though, and she forced herself to sit up and roll her stiff shoulders back.

"Ugh. Your couch is not comfortable. I don't suppose I can get some tea to wake me up before we start this discussion?" She asked, yawning and stretching at the same time as she spoke. Mike was pretty used to understanding her garbled morning speech though.

"I didn't wake the dragon without tea prepared," he said with a strained chuckle and hand her the cup he previously set on the rickety coffee table before he had tried to awaken her.

"You, Mikey, are a godsend," she muttered out as she took the cup and inhaled deeply before sipping it. "You got it right, even after a few months of not seeing me. Ohh Mikey you do care," She said, while subtly pointing out her displeasure of not seeing her brother.

"Yes well," he began with a cough, "I got a new job on Monday."

"Really? Doesn't excuse months of not seeing your twin sister, you know you can always ask for my help, don't you? I mean, I know I'm not the nicest person in the world, or the most understanding, but you're my brother. I-" she stopped and sighed. "I care about you alright? I worry, especially when you don't talk to me except through a few emails. Emails that literally tell me nothing about how you've been doing, because you say you've been doing fine, but clearly you haven't. Fine never means fine when it's you saying it Michael."

"Morg-"

"No, shut up. You haven't been doing fine. Look at this place, you've had to have sold most of your good furniture, the place is falling apart. And look at you Mikey! I think you've lost at least twenty pounds since I've last saw you and you were underweight to begin with. Finally you call me and you sound so out of your mind with panic and terror… I don't even know where to begin. It must be something really big that you finally swallow your pride or whatever it is that keeps you from reaching out to me all this time to actually give me a call," She finishes icily. Seething she watches her brother shrink under her heated gaze.

"I- I didn't realise. I'm so-"

"No, you don't get to apologise. Your apology to me can be you actually reaching out to me when you need to from now on," she cut him off again. She sighed and let the anger slowly go as he nodded, looking thoroughly scolded. "Now, what has you so scared?"

"That job that I mention I got? It's a Night Security job at Freddy Fazbears-"

"Wait- Freddy's? Really? That place is still in bus-"

"Yes, would you please stop cutting me-" he started, before being cut off again, glaring at his sister in that moment, terror forgotten for the moment in favour of irritation.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry baby brother," she replied with a grin as he sighed in exasperation.

"A few minutes does not make me your baby brother. Younger brother, sure, baby no. Anyway, this is going to sound crazy. You remember the animatronics?" he asked, wringing his hands as he finally sat on the couch rather than standing in front of his sister. She turned towards him, folding her legs under herself and placing the now empty cup back on the shoddy coffee table.

"Yeah, course I remember the animatronics Mikey. They're essentially why I chose to go into robotic engineering. Plus you remember '87," she said, leaning back and moving her legs again, putting her feet into her brother's lap.

"Yes well… they- remember how they used to walk around during the day? Before '87?" He asked again.

"Yes, yes. I remember quite well, my memory isn't that bad Mikey," she huffed, getting impatient.

"Well- there was that time you forgot my birthday Morg, and yours is on the same day so that shouldn't even be possible," he pointed out.

"Hey! It was one time and I had three deadlines to meet," she shot back with a pout that made him laugh. He fell quiet for a moment after that though, until she spoke his name again. "Mike?"

"They walk around at night. There were some messages recorded by the previous Night Guard, he said it was some free roam program to keep their servos from locking up. They- he said they think the Night Guard is an endoskeleton and it's against the rules for one to be out of their suit. So they- they stuff the Guards into one and- you can't- you can't live in one of those things. Too many components I guess. But he- he mentioned that the management just- just cleans up the bodies. That it's happened before and after everything is cleaned up they issue a missing persons report after ninety days. Morg you have to believe me, the animatronics, they move around the restaurant trying to get into the security office. And-" Mike stared speaking at a normal pace, before he speed up, stuttering over his words before he cut himself off with a sob. He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Foxy got in last night. The sound he made, it was terrifying enough without the fact he lunged at me, his hook slashing towards me- I was lucky I was standing up. I wasn't thinking when I grabbed the chair and rammed it into him. S-Somehow the force threw him out into the hallway and I slammed the door down. He rammed into the door a few more times before finally leaving. I barely lasted last night, and it's only the second night Morg. I didn't even know that Foxy was still active. I- I didn't listen to phone guy's full message, Chica and Bonnie were already on the move and he started out with some information I had learned the previous night. So I- I was so stupid. I could've died, I was so close to dying, oh- oh god," he gasped, sobbing openly again. He buried his face into his hands as he sobbed, ashamed to be crying like a child again in front of his sister, but also feeling the terror of almost losing his life again.

Morganna swallowed, pulling her feet off of her brother and shifting to lean over him, rubbing circles into his back again like she had the night before, like she had when he woke from nightmares when they were children.

"Mikey, it is hard to believe…" she said, trailing off. She flinched when he raised his puffy stricken eyes to hers. "But I believe you. You aren't a liar and we've always believed there was something strange about the animatronics."

"W-What if they really are sentient, like we used to believe? That they're programming really does force them to see me as an endoskeleton. What if somehow I could get them to remember me? Or maybe you could reprogram them so they don't see me as an endoskeleton. Or- I don't know. I- I can't quit this job Morg. I have to go back. I have a contract to work there five days and… even if you helped me out I need the money," he rambled before ending his speech with a defeated sigh.

"Mike… what did you do?" Morganna asked, her eyes narrowing.

"I-I didn't do anything. I just, might've taken out a loan to pay for rent," he stuttered out, he looked away, biting his lip.

"Let me guess, it isn't exactly a loan from a bank. Seriously Michael? You could be hurt- oh wait you're already in a dangerous situation with your life on the line because you didn't just ask for help," she exclaimed, plopping back on the couch and bringing her hands up to her face to press against her eyelids with a sigh.

"I know. I'm sorry I didn't- I just didn't want to bother you. You had everything going up, and I didn't want to make you worry. Plus your detective boyfriend didn't exactly like me," he added, hoping that would help his case. Her head snapped up, eyes glaring at him again making him shrink under her gaze for the umpteenth time that morning.

"Really Mike? If you actually spoke to me instead of those shitty emails, you'd know that first off, that douchebag was a liar, he was a regular street cop. Second off, I dumped him the night after you met him. Nobody treats my brother badly if they wanna be with me," she said flippantly. "So that's not an excuse. No more of that shit, seriously Mikey. You need me, pick up a phone."

"Wait- how did you find out he was lying about being a detective if you dumped him right after I met him?" He asked, curiosity pulling his attention away.

Morganna blanched at the question for a moment, her cheeks puffing out as a pout formed on her face. "He might have," she paused with a sigh "followed me around for weeks giving me tickets for minor street violations after I broke up with him."

Mike tried not to, but ended up laughing. "I told you that if you were dating a cop you'd have to change your driving habits. But he seriously followed you around? Let me guess, you got him back good for that."

"Of course. He is no longer employed by the city and I didn't have to pay a single one of those tickets since his calls were questioned since what he did was a serious breach of protocol and an abuse of his power," she said with a certain amount of satisfaction. "But back to the matter at hand Mikey. Do you have a plan?"

"Sort of. I'm hoping maybe to talk to the owner again. Maybe I can convince him to hire you as a mechanic, or at least get him to let you come in to reprogram them," he said with a shrug. "Maybe you can go in and take a look at Foxy later today? I kind of… broke his jaw more when I threw a chair at him to get him out of the office."

"You seriously feel bad about hurting the animatronic fox that was trying to _kill you_? Then again I shouldn't be surprised, it's hopeless little Mikey I'm talking about," she said with a dramatic sigh as she leaned back a bit more on the couch and lifted a hand to her head. "Seriously little brother, you are hopeless."

"Hey- Ugh just- Foxy was your favourite too," he said, fighting a pout off of his face.

"Yeah, but I still would feel no remorse for hurting someone or something that was trying to kill me. But anyway, I guess that's all I can do today. Foxy's still away in Pirates Cove right? Shouldn't be much to stop me from sneaking behind the curtains and taking a look at him I guess," she started before looking at him in worry. "But still- there isn't much I can do to curtail their murderous… ness before tonight. If it's as bad as you say, well it sounds like it's just going to get harder."

"It- It probably will. I don't have a plan other than to just be vigilant. You can't be there Morg, there is not telling what they'd do if there were two of us," he said with a frown.

Morganna frowned back, it was true, there was no telling how the animatronics would react to two endoskeletons, but odds were they would break the pattern that they'd formed and that would just make things more difficult.

"Fine, I don't like it, but I'll stay home and write out some preliminary code for their programs. Just stay safe Mikey. Take no chances. If you have to damage one of the animatronics do so. I'll take care of any damage costs," she said with a nod. He nodded back and for the moment she was satisfied.

Suddenly Mike was in her arms again, only this time there was no sobbing or tears. He smiled a bit when she wrapped her arms around him in response. A small smile graced her face as well, for while she was concerned and irritated with her brother she still loved him. Mike felt the same, sure she was a bit over protective, but he loved her prickliness and all too.

"I missed this."

"Me too Mikey."

* * *

**AN :: Updating on a whim. My muse has been struck hard, so again, update will probably be quick. Thank you so much for the kind reviews on the last chapter. I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well. A bit of trivia, my Mikey and Morg are partially based off of all the youtubers who I've watched play the game. Mikey is more a culmination of the fearful reactions while Morg is the culmination of those who didn't give much of a reaction to the game's jump scares. Of course with other qualities mixed in, I just thought I share the inspiration for their main character traits. Thank you once again for reading and please remember any comments, concerns, or suggestions are welcome via review or PM. As always have a wonderful day/night! **


	4. Evening of Threats and Realisations

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

Getting into Freddy's wasn't hard. No one gave her a second look, even if she didn't have a child with her. Sneaking into Pirate's Cove? Even easier, since all she had to do was slip underneath a curtain rather than opening a door. It was a little late, but she wanted to at least do something to help her brother out for this night. There was about fifty minutes until the restaurant would close, and perhaps surprisingly to some, the restaurant was still quite active. Freddy's closing show would start soon and many children often begged their parents to stay just that little bit longer.

She looked around Pirate's Cove wistfully, remembering when it was clean and in proper usage. Everything showed it's age now, paint peeling from the old pirate ship and treasure chests, gold coins still scattered and only a few glittered somewhat in the shadows. She frown when she saw Foxy and the tears in his suit. Sure he was a little beat up back then too, but now there were clear holes that you could see his endoskeleton though.

"Hey Foxy," she started, looking at the seemingly deactivated animatronic with a bit of fondness for the old battered animatronic. He had been her and Mikey's favourite when they were children after all, even after the events of '87.

"Not sure if you can hear me, but I'm going to talk anyway. I'm not exactly sure what the circumstances are, but you gave my brother quite the fright last night. Normally I'm all for scaring Mikey, but making him fear for his life, that's a no-no. Mikey's the Night Guard here. The only human in the building after dark, back in the office, he's not an endoskeleton," she said bluntly, getting to the points she wanted to make quickly, as she surveyed the damage to his jaw and took note of the state of the rest of his body.

"I'll have to take a look at your programing at a later date, but I'm not even sure why that would be programmed in. Sooner than later I guess, but there isn't any time right now. Mikey will be back tonight, refuses to quit. He's a bit naïve, he believes you guys will remember us, from when we were children. When we were children you seemed… truly alive, like you weren't just preprogrammed responses. I'm not sure how true that is, but here I am, talking to you, so I must believe it a little," she continued on as she worked on his jaw, unscrewing bolts and screwing new ones in. She continued working in silence for a while before she spoke again.

"Just know, that if you hurt him in any way, I will make sure that you and the others are destroyed circuit by circuit. I don't care if you are sentient or not, he is my brother and I will absolutely destroy anyone or anything that dares to hurt him. I'll make sure those behind this company get what they deserve as well, I promise you that. If you don't want that, well then just make sure to stay away from anything resembling an endoskeleton tonight and pass it onto the others. If you don't, or you can't hear me, oh well. Mikey didn't know what he was going into when he took this job either."

She stood up, wiping grease on her hand from a rag before shuffling around the animatronic, and squatting down again, unzipping the suit with a bit of difficultly to get a look at the main access panel. She frowned, noting that it was screwed on tight, nothing that she couldn't take a part, but something that would most likely require time and light, both of which she was short on.

"Damn. Well, it looks like my warning is all you get presently. I'll take a look at your programing another day then, there's not enough time now. Just… remember what I said Foxy, hopefully you actually are sentient, or at least a learning artificial intelligent who is actually active now. If not, oh well I guess," she said with a sigh.

She stood up again after zipping up his suit properly again. She let out another long breath, "I hope Mikey's right about you guys," she muttered to herself before turning away, only to stop immediately when she heard the curtains rustle and sniffles.

Looking at the entrance to Pirate Cove she saw a little girl, her red hair disheveled and pulled loose from the pigtails they once were. Her knees drew up and she sniffled quietly, not noticing that anyone was there.

"Hey there, what's your name?" She asked, sitting down beside the girl.

"Edith. Edith Sin- ouch!" The little girl began before Morganna flicked her in the forehead.

"Hey didn't your mom ever tell you not to talk to strangers? Let alone give your full name out. Kid come on, don't they teach stranger danger is schools?" She questioned, shaking her head. "Just this time you're safe, but you gotta be careful kid. The world is crazy. You should know though, since you're crying. Is some kid picking on you?"

The girl pouted at the lecture and looked away before finally answering. "Yeah… the boys in my grade keep making fun of my name. It's an old lady name, and I don't like it either, but it's the name daddy gave me," she said with another sniff.

"How about a nickname then? Like… Edi! There's a game me and my brother loved with a character who was actually a computer of sorts who had that name. Or you could go by a middle name. When you get older you might actually really like your name. Don't dislike your name because others tease you about it. The only opinion that matters about yourself is yours," she finished, giving the other girl's shoulder an encouraging squeeze.

"Someone told me that a long time ago. I got hassled about my name too, except no one wanted to use my full name, they wanted to shorten it or make a joke about it. Actually that old sea fox behind us is the one that told me that," she said with a smile as the girls eyes grew wide.

"He did?"

"Yeah, a long time ago he used to help me and my brother out like this a lot. I'm hoping to get him fixed, so maybe he can help out kids like you, like he did for me and my brother again. Plus he tells some pretty amazing Pirate stories."

"Wow! I hope he gets fixed, he sounds awesome!" The little girl exclaimed as the woman peaked out from the curtain, coast was still clear.

"Welp, how about me and you go find your mum now you're feeling better hmm? I think Freddy's show is going to start soon," she said with a smile, holding the young girls hand and helping her from the stage. Finding her mother wasn't hard and before she knew it she was back on her way to Mike's apartment, but not without turning and looking all three bandmates in their eyes in hope to convey a message, or rather a threat. Hopefully they were unaware of their actions and Foxy had heard her.

Morganna felt uneasy, which wasn't something she felt often. Confident to almost a fault she rarely felt thrown off by anything, but her brother in danger was one such thing that threw her. If she'd had more time she could pester him into letting her come with him, or at least come up with some kind of failsafe, maybe a device that let out a small grade EMP to shut them down? But there wasn't any time. It was nearing when Mike would get to work and he would not appreciate her going against his wishes. If there wasn't a chance that she could get them both killed by showing up, she'd risk it. As it was though, he was right for once, there was a chance that the animatronics would change their patterns and perhaps just make them run out of power.

Maybe she could at least hack into the pizzerias' camera system… it would give her something to do while she worried at the very least, it was unlikely she'd sleep again that night anyway. There was still a bit of time before then however, so maybe she should go and do some grocery shopping, since it was obvious Mikey wasn't eating right. She hated grocery shopping though, oh the things she would do for her brother. She turned down the street heading toward the supermarket with a chuckle, he didn't know how wrapped around his finger she really was. She didn't even cook for herself after all.

* * *

Coming online during business hours was something that very rarely happened, since no one was allowed in pirate cove. Every now and then a child would sneak behind the curtain to get a look at him, but the almost immediately left if they were alone. If they were a group, well that was a unfortunate day for the old fox. Some of the older children enjoyed seeing the slowly falling apart robot and help the process along. Patches of his suit were gone because of harsh treatment. Thankfully those types were typically loud enough to be caught pretty fast and removed from the premises.

However, he'd never had an adult visitor during business hours. Sure the mechanic took a look at him every now and then, but that was always in the morning before opening or at night after closing. To have a woman step up into pirates cove was a strange sight to come online to.

"Hey Foxy," the woman said. He couldn't see her well, the darkness only showing shadows of her face. He could activate his low light mode, but that would make his eyes glow, alerting the woman that he wasn't as deactivated as he seemed, and that was probably a bad idea, all things considered.

Still, the fact that she knew who he was, even after all the years of being written off of all the branding the company did… she must have come to the pizzeria as a child. If that was the case though, why was she in Pirates Cove? He was under the assumption that anyone who knew about the bit of '87 was terrified of him, based on the reactions of that day and the days after.

When she started talking though, which helped explain a few things… that actually just confused him more.

Firm hands grasped his jaw, moving it back into place and seemingly looking to see what was wrong with it. He felt threatened though, like perhaps the human was going to hurt him, not that he'd be able to feel physical pain, but still he wasn't immortal. Her tone was, at first friendly, before turning darker. She spoke of someone he scared, her brother apparently, but when she mentioned that he was there, after dark, that's when he felt confusion take over, pushing all thoughts of her threatening tone aside.

No one was supposed to be in the restaurant after close, yet he'd seen that man with the manager a few days before. That had been a strange occurrence, but then she went on to say he wasn't an endoskeleton. How would she know about them? He'd never…. Had he seen her before? He was fairly certain he had not. But she knew him by name. Was she one of his matey's all grown up? But then, why was she fixing his jaw? If she was, she'd know he was dangerous, that his jaw perhaps shouldn't be usable after the incident of '87.

Her hands moved quickly, lubing up joints and unscrewing old rusty screws and replacing them and adding in new ones for those that had been lost. It was, well it felt good to be fixed for once. Still, most of the thoughts running through his processor remained unanswered and only caused more questions to be formed.

The threats were actually almost frightening, if only because of the low calm and brewing protectiveness that lilted through her voice as she spoke, but still he felt more confusion than anything else. She stopped talk and got up, leaving his field of vision, cursing when she realized she wasn't able to access his main CPU without more time, and perhaps light, since he realised she probably couldn't see well in the dim light behind the Pirate Cove curtains.

He still had no idea who she could possibly be, until she muttered something about 'hoping Mikey was right'. That- that made all other processes stop. Mikey? He- there were a few Mikeys he recalled fondly, but only one that he remembered above all others. He had very few children he specifically called his First Mate, but there was one. One with a sister he also called First Mate, since they were twins after all and it would be unfair to play favourites with two so close. His processes stopped again when a child's sniffle was heard.

He watched the woman approach the child, wishing that he could do so with all of his being. A crying child always called out to him, to help, protect, comfort. Perhaps it was just his programming, but he'd always been better at it than the others. Freddy tended to give advice that sometimes hit home, but it was just as often that he missed the mark. Bonnie was a nightmare when it came to crying children, having no idea what to do at all other than just stand there and offer a hug. Chica always tried to solve every problem with food, giving more pizza or a cupcake to a crying child. Each worked at times, not at others, but Foxy got down on the same level as the children. He used to listen and let the child vent, then give advice if the child hadn't come to a conclusion on their own, and then physical comfort when needed. A toy was a last resort for a child who maybe didn't even know why they were sad. Overall he just tended to help the children easier than the others, though it had been so long since he'd been able to.

Listening to the woman talk to the little girl, while she was perhaps a bit abrasive, she took a similar approach. Talking to her while being the adult, letting her know that she shouldn't talk to strangers before comforting her. It was an interesting approach but it worked, and as soon as she said that the 'old sea fox' had told her that advice, he was absolutely positive that the woman in front of him used to be little Morganna, and what Mikey she spoke of was her twin, and that they'd grown up so much and came back. It- it was something to be remembered, it felt

He felt elated, like nothing was wrong in the world, when the young girl turned back to look at him, happiness in her eyes and praise on her lips. To be looked at like that again, it was what he wanted more than anything else.

The woman, Morganna he remembered now, left with the child in hand and he felt no worry. She was one of his first mateys and it seemed like she'd grown into a fine adult. Still a grump no doubt based on her tone of voice and words, but not one who was irresponsible it seemed. Especially since she was still looking out for Mikey, who he just realized with a terrible feeling, was the one who they'd been trying to stuff into a suit the past two nights.

That was when confusion started pouring through his processor once again, why was a human in the office now? Why switch and yet they still saw an endo? It was disconcerting, but it did explain the strange noises and leaks that the endo had been making the past few nights. Mikey had never been the bravest soul, sweet and well-mannered yes, but certainly not very courageous. He'd been the voice of caution on stage when things might've been getting a bit rowdy. If that- if it was Mikey they were scaring so badly, his thoughts stopped there. He felt terrible, guilt wracking him, how could he not have realised it? Mikey was his first matey, adult or not. It was Mikey back there, no if ands or buts about that. He remembered when he was forced out of the office the hysterical apology, only Mikey would feel it necessary to apologise when he was scared to death of dying. Being stuffed into one of their suits would definitely kill a human.

Slowly his processes started shutting down, his main processor shutting down and returning to the offline mode he was supposed to be in. His last processed thoughts were that he had to let the others know what a terrible mistake they'd made with the recent endo, that it was actually his little Mikey.

* * *

**AN :: Merry Christmas everyone! Or you know, Happy Holidays. Seasons Greetings. All that jazz. Anyway, updated for the holiday! I've gotten quite a few hours at work for the next week so no telling when I'm even going to have time to turn on my laptop again. Expect the next update sometime next week I would guess. Thank you once again for reading and I hope you all had/have a wonderful Holiday Season! Questions, comments, and concerns are welcome via review or pm as you all know. Have a wonderful day/night and a Happy upcoming New Year!**

**Edit AN 1.20.15 :: No edit to the story or chapter done here, just a note on a reference I made. So I just realised even with how careful I've been with looking shit up for 1999 (old Nokia phones and all) I totally didn't even think about Mass Effect being modern. But I like Mass Effect, so fuck it, it's staying. [I mean, it's a pretty minor reference I guess, but still...] Think of it as an easter egg, like the krogan heads mounted on a wall in Dragon Age Inquisition. Fucking hell avoiding all the modern references I want to make is hard. Sorry everyone, excuse my language and stupidity please and enjoy the rest of the story thus far. u.u**


	5. Night of Bewilderment

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

Getting ready for his shift was the easiest part of his night really. Mike got a shower, got dressed, ate some tasteless stale bread that thankfully hadn't gone moldy just yet, and then he was out the door to what was sure to be another terrifying night. Morganna had left a few hours ago, but most likely had returned to her apartment after stopping at the pizzeria. Maybe something she did or said got through to Foxy, regardless he couldn't take any chances.

The drive to Freddy's was far shorter than he felt it should be. Entering the Pizzeria his hands started shaking a bit, he clenched them at his side. The cleaners were still there, wiping down tables and sweeping the floor, eyes clearly looking anywhere but the messy stage. It was clear that they wouldn't go near the band, and though he didn't blame them, he couldn't help but feel a bit bad for the band, considering all of the gunk that had collected on their forms and the floor around them.

Checking his watch he noticed it was only 10:30. He could have sworn it was later. Biting his lip he fought with himself before walking over to one of the cleaners, an older man with greying hair who was mopping up what appeared to be spilled soda.

"Uhh- hi. I was won-" he began, before quickly being cut off.

"What do you want? Who are you anyway, can't you see we're busy?" The man asked grumpily, his quick pace of cleaning not changing. Mike frowned when he noticed that the man was really just spreading the dirt around rather than getting any of it up, he was almost certain the ground would be sticky even if you could see the dark soda colour on the floor anymore with it being mixed into the dirt everywhere already, it was suddenly no wonder the place was falling apart.

"W- Well I'm the night guard here first off, the name's Mike. Secondly I was just wondering if I could give you some help. No one's touched the stage yet and I know you probably want to get out of here as soon as possible," Mike said, starting out a little shaky before gaining some confidence. The man stared at him like he was crazy for a moment before recovering.

"Uh- yeah that would be great, acually. Extra supplies is in the closet close to your security office," the man said pointing towards the hallway before returning to his work.

Mike walked over and pulled out a bucket, mop, and rag. He poured some cleaner into the bucket and walked towards the bathroom to fill it up. Going passed the cleaners he frowned, over hearing some of their conversation.

"Nice kid, too bad he'll probably not last the night. He's clearly not right in the head if he didn't leave this job after the first night he survived," the older man said.

"I'm just sad we'll be here for hours scrubbing his blood off the backroom floor when he does get caught by those monstrosities. You know I hate this place," the younger man grunted uncaringly.

Mike tensed up before sighing. He wouldn't let what they were saying get to him. Maybe he wasn't the most sane person in the world for staying at this job, but still, he would survive. He wouldn't need to be… cleaned off of the backroom's floor. The thought made him swallow thickly before he pushed it out of his head as he reached the bathroom sink and turned on the faucet for the moment, partially filling the bucket before returning to the party room.

Climbing on stage he turned towards the animatronics first. The stage was surprisingly not as bad as they were, the smell of rotting food coming off of them. He gagged as he stepped towards Bonnie, setting down the bucket and reaching for the rag.

"Sorry Bonnie, it's not you. Well- it is. But it's not your fault. I mean, kids get rowdy and throw stuff. I mean- they really shouldn't. It almost looks like no one's bothered cleaning you in years. Smells like it too," He rambled as scrubbed at the most stained patches of fur, making sure not to get excess water anywhere, unsure as to whether or not it would affect the animatronic poorly or not. Idly he wondered if Bonnie knew what a mess he was, since he was in the supply closet so often. After about ten minutes of scrubbing down Bonnie he stepped back and sighed.

"Well, it's not the best, but we have limited time. At least you don't smell like a dumpster anymore," he said in a defeated tone. "Now onto Chica, don't worry Freddy, I'll get to you too. Being the gentleman or rather, gentlebear that you are, I'm sure you hate the state you're in immensely," He joked, nervously smiling.

Mike moved quickly as he cleaned Chica, scrubbing stains and grimacing as he pulled bits of dried dough out of her feathers. "Have you actually been making pizza all night Chica? I mean, there is dough all in your feathers and flour too… huh. I didn't think you actually were doing anything in the kitchen other than moving pans around," he said, still scrubbing away and pulling out bits of the dry dough.

"There, that's a bit better. Now onto the big guy," he said with a faint smile, forgetting for the moment that the three robots in front of him had been trying to kill him the past two nights.

He worked fast on Freddy, noticing that it was nearing eleven-thirty. He frowned at the amount of handprints on Freddy and the thinner patches of fur. "I guess the day guard isn't really doing his job, huh Freddy? I mean, clearly some kids have been getting rough with you guys," he said with a frown, rubbing away the last saucy hand print he could find.

"Alright guys, that's all for tonight I guess. Not sure if you can hear me, probably not but- If you could just not step things up tonight that would be great. If you could avoid killing me for another night that would be amazing," he said weakly. There was no way in his mind that this would even remotely work. "Ugh I might just be going crazy," he muttered to himself.

He shook his head and quickly went over the stage with the mop. He stopped when the cleaners announced they were down for the night. Looking at his watch he saw it was getting close to midnight, he disposed of the water and returned the bucket and mop to the supply closet quickly, knowing his time of being safe was coming to an end. He turned to go down to his office but turned at the last moment, walking briskly into Pirates Cove.

It was dark, but he could make out the shape of Foxy, leaning up against the aged boat set on stage. He was a little shaky, going near the animatronic that had come the closest to killing him, but he steeled himself as he knelt down.

"Hey Foxy," he began, pulling on a nervous smile. "I'm glad to see you doing much better. It seems Morg fixed your jaw, hopefully she'll be able to take a look at all you guys soon. So please- please," he cut himself off, realising that he didn't just want Foxy not to kill him. Well he wanted that of course, but he also wanted Foxy to remember him. He wanted his suspicions to be true about the animatronics, because back then their friendship seemed so real.

He never was one to deny his weaknesses, and making friends was definitely one of them. However, back before '87, when the animatronics were allowed to have direct contact with the children, they had seemed so alive. They listened, spoke to them, played with them, they were better friends than the few children he and his sister had gotten along with. They weren't like adults, who didn't understand them and talked down to them, they were just- there was just something about them. So he hoped, hoped that the feelings he had back then, and even now, weren't lies he told himself.

He sat there for a moment, his watch beeping at five minutes to midnight causing him to sigh. Hesitantly he reached out to Foxy, fingers just brushing the red fur on the animatronics' cheek before pulling back again as the human shook his head. Pushing himself up he stood and turned away from the Fox with another quiet sigh. His hand came up to rub his face for a moment in a tired movement.

"I really must be going crazy," he said to himself before walking out of Pirate's Cove, pausing after moving the curtains aside. He glanced back at Foxy sadly before letting them flutter closed. Running back to the security office he panted, thankful he had enough sense not to say any longer as the clock struck midnight. The odds of him dying sometime tonight were probably high enough.

* * *

It was a strange start to another night for all of the animatronics. The band, however, were far more confused than Foxy. They normally weren't fully online before the game began, since most of the night cleaning staff stayed away from them, but that night had been different. A man has cleaned them off, a rare occurrence in itself, but this one actually talked to them. He seemed nervous, a little frightened sure, but he hadn't let that stop him from doing his job and just talking to them either.

Still, what he said was a little strange. It was almost as if he were familiar with all of them, like one of the children maybe? Had he been here as a child maybe? Whatever it was, all of the members of the band felt at least a little grateful to him. Maybe if they were cleaned more often they'd get more customers, maybe they could return the pizzeria to the glory days. He had sure been strange though, taking about not killing him. Why would they kill him? No humans stayed in the pizzeria after dark. They brushed off thought, believing the man to be strange.

Chica, however that was thinking rather hard about what the man had said to her rather than just brushing it off like the others. How had he known about her baking? Even with the dried bits of dough that she had stuck on her, that wasn't the logical conclusion adults came to. It was odd, enough so that she was so focused on it that she hadn't even moved when midnight had come around.

Bonnie, however was off the stage, moving to the middle of the party room. He decided he would stay there a few minutes before moving. His plans, however were disrupted when Foxy walked out of Pirate's Cove. All three animatronics looked at him, none speaking for a moment. It was a little strange, to see Foxy out of Pirate's Cove for more than just the game, but it happened every now and then. Typically if he needed to say something he just called out to them from the cove.

"Oh hey Foxy, watcha doin' out of the cove?" Bonnie asked, trying to show as little interest in the answer as possible. He was sure the pirate was just trying to throw him off his game, since they made that bet the night before. Sure they didn't bet anything, but it was a matter of pride.

"We be makin' a grave mistake lad. I had a visitor to the cove today," Foxy began before both Freddy and Bonnie cut him off.

"A visitor to the cove?"

"Oh come off it-"

"One of me crew. First Mate Morganna came to the cove today, all grown up and a right adult at that, but she had a reason ta come here other than to visit old Foxy. The Endoskeleton isn't an Endo this time. The game we've been playin'? We've been playin' it with little Mikey, her twin if you remember," Foxy said trying to get to the point before he was cut off again.

"Tch, you're just trying to distract me. I don't blame you for not wanting to lose to me again Fox, but saying that is going too far. None of the children ever come back here as adults. Not after '87," Bonnie said with a narrowing of his eyes.

"Bonnie!" Both Chica and Freddy admonished the rabbit at the same time. Out of the three, it was Bonnie that tended to hit low when irritated or angered.

"Are you sure Foxy? Why would they suddenly bring a human into the office? Plus you've seen it too, right? That is definitely an Endo in the office," Freddy said calmly, pointing out what they all knew.

"Yeah so stop trying to distract me. It's already 1 am. I am not going to lose to you again Foxy. You got the last Endo, just barely might I add! If we hadn't stepped up our game that day you wouldn't have had that second run that led you to get it," Bonnie complained, arms folding in a pose that practically screamed he was pouting.

"I am tellin' you land lubbers that the game don't matter at the moment. Go ahead, don't take Cap'n Foxy's word for it, but you've been havin' some doubts about that new Endo, right? The crying? Why would they ever make a crying animatronic, we're supposed ta help the children stop cryin', not cry with 'em. Why would I lie about this?" Foxy asked, his voice serious and final.

A few moments of tense silence stretched out between the animatronics before it was interrupted by a loud scream, coming from the security room.

Before any of the other animatronics could react, Foxy was running down the west hall. Bonnie followed him, while Freddy and Chica took their normal route down the east hall. Both parties were met with closed doors. Looking into the office they were met with the same slightly distressing sight.

What they saw was and Endo skeleton on the ground, clutching it's head and puling at invisible hair. However, Foxy's vision wavered, seeing both an Endoskeleton and the young man who'd visited his cove, his Mikey. They could all hear ragged breathing and frantic rambling.

"It's me. It's me. It's me. I-" Mikey repeated the sentence over and over before finally cutting off with another alarming choking sound.

Foxy twitched, quickly tapping his hook against the glass window in a frantic manner, concerned for the human inside.

"Mikey. It be me, yer 'ol friend Foxy. Please open up the door; we didn't know it were you in there Mikey. I didn't realise it until yer sister came visiting. Please believe me Mikey, I just want to help you," Foxy spoke, speaking loud enough to be heard through the door, but still softly enough so that perhaps the man would believe him.

Bonnie shifted beside the Fox, feeling a terrible feeling of dread settle in his mind. His processor was going a mile a minute as he watched the Fox plead with the Endo he saw in the office. It- Foxy was right, it couldn't be an Endo, no Endo would react like that. Though what the human was reacting to was another matter, since they'd all been in the party room before the man had screamed.

In the other hallway Freddy and Chica both watched the endo in concern, though Chica's vision slightly wavered. Her thoughts were brought back to the man who had cleaned them up, speaking to them and saying something about her cooking at night that had confused her.

"Freddy! I think that's the man who cleaned us up earlier. I- he talked about my cooking and it confused me, but if he's here at night, that explains it," she said quickly, almost excited about her discovery. She could see a faint vision of the man from before now, though it was almost like it was over top of the endoskeleton. It was strange, but she was sure that the faint vision was the correct one, maybe something was wrong with her optics.

Freddy tilted his head, not seeing anything but the endo, but not discounting the theory. He hadn't really paid much attention to what the man was saying at first, tuning in only when he'd turned his attention to Freddy himself. The man had seemed like a fine person, and he was grateful for being cleaned up, but he still only saw an endo in front of him, even when trying to think of the man from earlier. Even seeing an endoskeleton rather than a human, it seemed more and more possible that it wasn't an endo in front of him, malfunctions wouldn't manifest them like this. Maybe leaking, but actual crying, panting, and the occasional dry heave? He doubted an endo would have such a capability. Chica and Freddy both tried to get his attention somehow, taping on the window and taking Foxy's lead in trying to talk to him.

The man inside didn't respond to anything though, sobbing and heaving breathes being the only noises coming out of the office until his body just slumped forward on the floor, most likely passed out after hyperventilating so badly. Chica and Freddy tried to bang on the door a few times, attempting to wake the man, but to no avail. They heard Bonnie and Foxy trying on the other side and shook their heads, it wasn't working.

After another few minutes of trying they stopped and instead met up with Foxy and Bonnie in the west hall.

"I- I don't understand why they'd put a human back here after all the Endo's," Freddy began, glancing through the window in concern again. "It's clear, however that that is no Endo. I don't think he's going to wake up before the power goes out."

"What's wrong with him? Do you think he passed out cause he was hungry? Humans do that right?" Chica asked, wondering if she should go and try to make a pizza for him before the power cut out.

"I heard that they do, but not often. I wonder what's wrong with him," Bonnie said in a flippant manner, though it was clear he was rather concerned by the fact that he hadn't wandered from the hallway.

"There's nothing wrong with Mikey! Somethin' frightened the lad. He was always fainthearted and had these breathy attacks when he felt too much," Foxy said, motioning towards his chest.

"Foxy, you said that it's Mikey in there, right? Mikey as in the one that had a sister named Morg something?" Chica asked, feathered fingers tapping the window idly.

"Aye lass, that be the one. Why?" Foxy answered distractedly, his focus still decidedly on Mike's form in the office.

"Okay. I'm going to go make him a pizza real quick. I remember he liked mushrooms. Maybe it will make the power go out faster so we can make sure he's okay," she replied clapping her hands together.

"Chica, food doesn't solve everything," Freddy began before being cut off.

"I know that. But it'll be step one to making him feel better and making up these past few nights to him. I mean- we frightened him really badly right? So we gotta say we're sorry and make it up to him somehow, even if it was some malfunction on our parts," she said with a nod.

"That's very thoughtful missy. I'll help you out in that case, get this pizza out as quick as we can before the power shuts out," Freddy said, he was actually quite proud of Chica's idea. He was trying not to give much power to the thoughts of why they saw Mikey as a Endo, when it was now clear he was not. It was concerning and frightening that their programming could become so bugged. And to attack a human that they'd known and entertained as a child? He could feel the guilt bubble up over all other processes, weighing down what was his equivalent of a conscious. He'd have to talk with Foxy later, after all it was the Fox that had somehow overcome the strange glitch in their programming.

With Freddy and Chica heading off to the kitchen, that left just Foxy and Bonnie in the hallway. Bonnie reached out and put a heavy paw on the other animatronics' shoulder.

"I'm sorry what I said. I mean- he does look like an Endo for some reason. I just- I'm sure he'll be okay," Bonnie said, in a rare attempt to be supportive rather than abrasive as he normally could be.

"Thanks lad. I really hope you're right," the fox replied, his gaze still not leaving Mike's form. There was nothing he could do to help until the power ran out or Mike regained consciousness. He didn't care which happened, he just wanted his first Matey to be alright.

* * *

**AN :: Thank you so much for your continued support of this story! It means a lot to me to hear that you guys like the story or the writing, especially since I'm not the most confident when it comes to both my storytelling and writing abilities. I started writing this on a whim just for myself unsure if I would ever do anything with it, so thank you so much for your interest! It gives me more of a drive to continue writing with every day. Anyway, please do review or pm with any feedback you want to leave me! I really do appreciate it! Also, it's getting close to the new year everyone! So happy early New Year, just in case I don't get a new chapter out by then. As always have a lovely day/night!**


	6. Dawn of Understanding

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

Waking up after passing out was the same as always, like wading through a thick liquid before reaching the surface to breathe. He almost always came out of his panic attacks with a sudden gasp, like he'd been holding his breath for a long time, and this time was no different. Confused and managing to breath calmly took up his thoughts for the first few moments of being awake before his hearing started working and sounds filtered in, muddled at first before he could understand what he was hearing.

"Oh! Lookie, he's awake!" A slightly metallic echoed female voice sounded nearby. His other senses slowly flooded back to him, the smell of pizza filling his nose, causing him to suddenly remember where he was. Freddy's he was at Freddy's and he'd passed out. Had- had he been caught then? He tried to look around, but it was dark, except for a pair of glowing yellow eyes directly above him, making him freeze and stop breathing. He was caught, and the thought paralyzed him for a moment.

Regaining his senses again he tried to quickly pull away, hoping he could maybe somehow get away from the robots, while knowing it was hopeless. His breathing becoming shaky and he started trembling, unable to much else than feel the growing panic start up again.

"Don't move lad, we aren't going to hurt you," Foxy started off, speaking as softly as he could, trying to comfort and settle him down before he worked himself up too badly. It was clear that Mike hadn't ever gotten over the panic attacks he had as a kid, though he appeared to have more control now than he did then, since it hadn't overcome him yet.

"What?" Mike asked confused, after all the animatronics had tried to kill him the past two nights, why was now any different? The animatronic he hadn't known about, an older version of Freddy perhaps, had gotten him. The golden Freddy came into the room, slipping in before he got both doors down, and then… and then what? He couldn't remember. His mind was totally blank after that point, so he could guess what had happened.

"You passed out lad. You don't know what happened do ye?" Foxy asked for a moment before shaking his head. "Never you mind that question. Questions be for later. I just want ta let you know yer safe with us Mikey. We didn't- we didn't know it was you back here. There's only been the endos before," Fox said quickly, wanting to impart the fact that they weren't going to hurt him as the first order of business. He had yet to admit to himself that the endos might've been human, firmy choosing not to think about it at all ad instead focusing on Mike.

"Yeah! Our optics must've been malfunctioning or something, cause until tonight you looked like an endoskeleton Michael," Chica chimed up. Crouching down close by, her eyes his indicator to where she was. He flinched a bit when she got closer, but their words were a bit comforting. Did they remember him somehow? Or did they just realise their mistake? But then they knew his name… though he did have a name tag. Though they were speaking to him so familiarly, trying to comfort him as if they did remember.

"You remember me?" He asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, we remember you and that sister of yours. Though you're all grown up now," Bonnie spoke this time, but he remained in the door way of the office, not wanting to crowd the obviously still nervous guard. "You're still a scaredy cat, huh?"

"I- I'm not," Mike protested at the words, brows furrowing in a grimace. "You guys tried to kill me! Anyone would be scared!"

"We weren't trying to kill you Michael. We just- we are sorry. You really did look like a endo. You still do to me. Though Foxy and Chica see you for who you are apparently. It's a strange glitch," Freddy said, pausing for continuing. Mike couldn't see him from where he was, but each word lit up Freddy's face. "But like I said, we really are sorry Michael. We never met for any of this to happen."

"We didn't lad, you have ta believe us, we'd never hurt ye on purpose," Foxy finally spoke up again, sincerity coating his every word.

Mike still felt tense, scared despite the words that were spoken, but he was starting to feel bad about it. Sure it was a justified reaction, since he was talking to his would be murderers, but he could tell that they genuinely felt bad. Were they- was he right about them then?

"Oh! Michael, I made you some pizza before the power went out. To maybe make you feel better? It's your favourite, mushroom pizza with extra cheese!" Chica said, moving the pizza from the desk to the floor beside Mike so that he could reach for a piece without falling out of Foxy's arms.

"Here lad, lets sit you up then." Foxy said, maneuvering the man into a sitting position gently, letting Mike sit up against his chest. Sure he wasn't in the greatest condition, but he was still rather sturdy for not having any maintenance like the rest of the group.

"Y-you guys really remember me?" Mike asked again, his voice trembling with the hope he felt, tears of relief welling up in his eyes, though he kept them from spilling.

"Of course, I wouldn't forget one of my first Mateys," Foxy said gently.

"Yeah, and we wouldn't forget you either! You were such a sweet child. Though I could do with forgetting your sister," Chica said, adding the last bit as a small joke and feeling good when Mike laughed.

"You're still sore because she thought you were a duck?" He said, still laughing a small bit.

"I am a chicken! Not a duck. It's just embarrassing that she mistook me for a duck," Chica said with a huff.

Mike couldn't help but laugh, but that was the seal that broke open the dam that held back his tears. He couldn't help the sob that burst through his laughter; he was just so relieved that he wasn't going to be killed. Sure he didn't have the greatest life, but he was figuring it out. Now that he wasn't in danger of being killed he felt so much lighter, as if a crippling weight was finally lifted off of him and he could breathe easy again. After spending so much time in darkness, it was almost as if light was finally flooding in after so much hardship.

"Lad? Are you alright lad?" Foxy asked in concern as the man cried again.

"Yeah," Mike said still sniffling as a few more tears fell down his face. "I'm just- I'm just so relieved that you remember me." He left out the 'and that you didn't kill me,' part, and though it went unsaid, they could all hear it in the air. Guilt filling the animatronics metaphorical hearts again.

"Are you sure you're alright son? You're still shaking," Freddy pointed out, speaking again, his face lighting up with each word again, though Mike could see it now. For a moment the guard wondered if it was a default setting for the bear's face to lit up in the dark or not, the thought distracting him from his nervousness. The Bear stood back, actually out of the room entirely but still able to see from where he stood that the human was still quite wound up, it was concerning to him.

Mike swallowed, nodding a bit nervously. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just the remnants of adrenaline making me a bit shaky," he said, attempting to brush off the concern.

Bonnie stood silent, checking the time on the hard to read analog clock hanging on the wall. It was almost six and for that he was grateful. He actually felt… well really bad for not believing Foxy, especially so after seeing how worked up the Fox got seeing the man unconscious and not knowing the reason why.

Besides that, he remembered the twins too. Liked them both well enough even if Foxy was their favourite. He got along with Morganna more than Mikey, but that was probably because she was more outspoken and mischievous. Still, he liked Mikey back then too. He really was a sweet boy, cheering the rabbit up when children called him a girl upon seeing him.

"It's six o'clock guys. Mikey should probably get going, especially since that sister of his is probably waiting for him. There was that lady who gave us that scary look just before close yesterday, remember? That must have been her," Bonnie said, pushing away thoughts of guilt. Mikey laughed at his comment, making Bonnie crack a smile.

"I don't doubt that was her," he said, chuckling a small bit still.

"You just got a scary look Bonnie lad. She fixed me up while spouting some intimidating threats with a few different scary looks," Foxy said, smiling when Mike laughed again.

A loud hum was heard as lights snapped back on with a crack of electricity that made Mike flinch. It was the opposite of the power going out, but sounded almost dangerous.

"Bonnie's right though, I better get going." He said as he pulled himself off of Foxy and shakily to his feet. Foxy stood and steadied him quickly, and he gave the Fox a smile in thanks.

"Careful there lad," he said, not letting go of the man's arm until he was steady. "Will… Will we be seein' you again tonight?"

Mike frowned for a moment, wondering why the pirate would think he'd just leave after finding out they remembered him. As long as they didn't go back to trying to kill him, he would stay.

"Of course I'll be back," he said with a smile, before pausing, his smile turning shaky and a bit nervous. "I mean, as long as you don't try to stuff me in a suit again, alright?"

"We won't, I mean, just make sure you talk. Me and Freddy still see you as an endoskeleton, but we'll remember your voice," Bonnie spoke up again. Both Chica and Freddy nodded at his words, agreeing with them fully. They wouldn't let an incident like this happen again with Michael at least. All of the animatronics were firmly against thinking that any of the past endos could have been human, it just couldn't be possible. The restaurant would have been shut down if that was the case, wouldn't it have been?

"Of course we won't matey. The captain doesn't lie," Foxy said with a nod, finally deeming the man steady enough to stand on his own and pulled away. "Ol' Foxy won't let anything happen to ye, and not just because 'o your sister's threats."

Mike smiled again and nodded, "Thanks guys. I- I can't trust you fully yet, but I can try. What you did, it really messed me up, and I can't just forgive and forget. I know it's not fully your faults, but… just give me some time. I'll be back tonight."

"That's fine lad, just trying is enough for us. We'll see you tonight," Foxy answered for all of them, though they all nodded as well.

"Oh! Don't forget the pizza I made for you Michael!" Chica said, picking up the box from where she'd put it, a bit disappointed he hadn't ate any of it immediately, but understanding that they all had to talk.

"Thanks Chica. I'll eat it when I get home before I go to bed. I'm sure it's wonderful," he replied with a smile that made all of the animatronics smiled. It was nice, interacting with someone who was considerate towards them and their feelings. Someone who they'd terrified and still treated them with respect rather than contempt. Sure Mike was nervous and scared, but as he said, anyone would be. They understood and each of them vowed to make it up to the man somehow.

With that thought in mind and knowing that they'd have the night to see him again they all quickly moved to get back into their places before they went offline, Mike made sure that they each made it to their proper places before finally leaving.

On his way out he once again ran into the day manager, he'd never learned her name, but he knew her shocked face. He opened the door for her again, though she paused before fully stepping through the door way, turning to him.

"Uhh- how was your night?" She asked, not looking him in the eye. He wondered how much she knew about the night shift, how much she was involved with the clean up of the night guards that didn't make it out of the job alive.

"It was fine," he said, his voice steady for once. His body still trembled a bit, though it was just the aftermath of the night, he wasn't scared anymore. Nervous yes, since he was still unsure as to why the animatronics' had acted the way they had, and unsure if they would remember this night fully, but he felt that they would. It would just be a matter of getting over what had happened.

"That's- that's good," she stuttered, surprised by the answer. "Have a good day then."

With that she was in the building and going back towards the office, nothing else said. Mike shook his head, heading towards his car. Bonnie had been right, he'd better get home to call his sister before she went on a rampage trying to make sure he was okay. People thought it was cute when he called her The Dragon, but in truth it was because she protected what she considered hers like one. Over protective and with a fiery temper, she wouldn't hesitate to chew him out if he didn't lift her worries. That was evident enough by her lecture the day before and that was something he wanted to avoid for a while at least.

* * *

**AN :: Happy New Year everyone! You all have my best wishes for the future and all that! My new years resolution is to keep writing, so if all goes well I will eventually finish this, though my outline and random notes about scenes to include has only continued to grow since I've started the story. Hopefully you'll all like where I take the story! Thank you all so much for your support again and please feel free to leave me feedback about what you think or what you'd like to see in the story. I love hearing from you all! Thank you again everyone and as always have a lovely day/night!**


	7. Late Night of Memories

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

The trip to the grocery store was quick and easy. She picked up the ingredients for a simple omelette as well as some frozen dinners to put in Mikey's understocked freezer, she knew it was unlikely that he left himself much time to cook any more, especially with his new night job.

Riding back to Mike's apartment she quickly made her way inside and shut the door behind her, looking at the dismal state of his place again. She shook her head, moving to put the stuff she'd bought away for the moment before throwing her bag on his couch. She didn't tell him, but she was staying over. No way would she wait for a call that he might not even make, promise or not he would most likely be exhausted after his shift if the animatronics really did get harder to deal with each night.

So she started her night by setting up her laptop on his rickety coffee table and seeing if she could hack into the network Freddy's was linked up to, but quickly found that she couldn't find one. Normally there was something, if the cameras were recording at the very least. Then again, she should have guessed they weren't, since the pizzeria probably knew what was happening and wanted an excuse not to have footage of anything.

With a sigh she hacked into some city records, noting the amount of violations the restaurant had swept under the rug for years. Between the amount of health violations and records of old and probably faulty electrical work the place was practically a death trap, with or without the murderous animatronics. Each and every report had said the issue had been problems had been fixed, but she doubted it with how many reports were made so soon after one another.

She sighed and opened another window, searching through news headlines that mentioned Freddys. The first one was obviously about the bite of '87.

Animatronic Malfunction Causes Severe Brain Damage to Freddy Fazbear Employee

It was a simple enough title, eye catching enough though not worded well enough for Morganna's taste. She remembered the day it had happened, her and Mikey had been there after all. She didn't read the article, a memory playing through her head.

_It was the summer of '87 and things were alright in the Schmidt household. Their mother was still sick, dying, thought the twins were unaware of that. They'd visited her at the hospital after school and then walked to Freddy's. Their father would be there to pick them up before the close of the day, but until then they could play and watch the shows._

_They held hands as they always did as they crossed the street and entered the building, sticking to one another and moving through the crowd. Making their way to Pirates Cove was easy enough when Captain Foxy wasn't performing. They were a part of the few who actively sought the pirate out, whether or not he was doing his show or not didn't matter to the twins._

_Upon seeing the Fox Mike let go of his sister's hand and ran to the pirate. _

_"__Foxy!" He exclaimed, jumping into the animatronics arms, laughing as the Fox spun him around._

_"__Good afternoon Captain Foxy!" Morganna said, a mock salute as her greeting as she more calmly walked up to the two._

_"__Ah- if it isn't first matey's Mikey and Morganna! It's good to see me crew doing so well," Foxy said, a grin on his face as he set Mikey down on the ground again. _

_"__Where are we going today Captain Foxy?" Mikey asked, happy and excited to be playing with his friend again. He forgot the sadness he felt for the moment, forgetting about the sad state of affair his family was in and just focusing on the moment._

_"__Can we battle some bad pirates today Foxy? I've practice my swordmanship," Morganna said with a wicked grin on her face. She hoped some other children joined their fun so that she could show off a bit. She too let go of sadness, but also of the bitterness she felt towards their situation and instead focused on the present._

_"__Aye, lass. We'll kick some evil booty today. How about we travel to the Black Isle? There be rumours of a tremendous treasure hidden there and it just so happens that I have the map. However you must be prepared to face the worst the seven seas has to offer.," Foxy began another of his interactive stories, his movements matching the dramatic tone of his tale._

_"__Of course Captain Foxy! We'd follow you to the end of the seas," both twins exclaimed with happy smiles on their faces._

_So they spent the day with Foxy as they always did. Morganna got to kick a few egos down with her swords and Mike was happy adding to Foxy's story and moving around the stage in mock battles with the Pirate. Finally they told Foxy they were going to get food and watch Freddy's show while they ate before they'd return._

_Getting their pizza they sat down, the show hadn't started yet and Chica was nearby._

_"__Hello Michael and Morganna!" She said happily, greeting the two when she got close enough._

_"__Hello Miss Duck," Morganna said, hiding a smile behind her pizza as the smile on the animatronics' face dropped._

_"__Ah- Don't feel bad Miss Chica! She knows you're a chicken! She's just teasing you. She does the same thing to me," Mike said, with a nervous laugh._

_"__Nope, she's totally a duck. Mikey, you see her duck bill don't you? No way that's a chicken's beak," she said, biting her lip to keep back a few laughs._

_"__I'm a chicken not a duck!" Chica protested, causing Morganna to burst out laughing. The chicken could never come up with any real evidence that she was actually a chicken without just saying that's what her creator told her._

_"__Ahhahaha-"_

_"__You're mean! I don't know how sweet little Michael puts up with you," Chica huffed, folding her arms._

_"__It's because he's a scaredy cat," another voice piped up from behind the twins. True to the words Mike jumped in his seat making Moganna laugh even more._

_"__Ahaha- ha. Hi Bonnie!" Morganna finally managed to get out between laughs, calming a bit, though still snickering when her brother pouted._

_"__I'm neither little nor a scaredy cat," he said with another pout._

_"__Uh-huh, keep telling yourself that kid. Hey Morg, did you get him with that prank you discussed with me?" The bunny asked with a wink to the girl._

_"__Pffff it went so well it was comical. And Bonnie, it's Morganna. Morg-anna. No nicknames or you'll find yourself on the end of my mischief for once," she said with a smirk._

_"__Of course Miss Morganna, no way I want that with your devious little mind," the bunny replied with a laugh._

_"__You're both jerks," Chica piped up._

_"__I agree with Chica," Mike said with a nod._

_They heard a deep laugh and saw Freddy walking towards them._

_"__It seems like you are all having fun over here," Freddy said merrily._

_"__We always have fun here Freddy!" Both twins said at the same time again, identical smiles on their faces. They both stood up and manuvered around the table to give the bear a hug, as was tradition when they came to Freddy's. Even if Foxy was their favourite, they still loved the others as well._

_"__Is your show starting now Freddy?" Mike asked, pulling away and moving out of the animatronics way._

_"__Just about! We just need these two to get their butts up on stage," Freddy said with another chuckle._

_"__Yes Boss!" Chica and Bonnie replied, saluting and making the surrounding children laugh at their antics._

_With that the animatronics left and the twins sat down to finish their pizza upon a reminder from Chica at the beginning of the show._

_In the middle of the show a man in a purple uniform came up to them._

_"__Are you Michael and Morganna Schmidt?" He asked, his voice grave._

_"__Yes… why?" Morganna was the one to answer after a silence from her brother. He didn't much like talking to strangers, and she didn't blame him, she disliked it too. Especially adults though, they never understood anything._

_"__I need you to come with me. I work here as the security guard and your father called, asked me to get you. Something's happened to your mother," the man said._

_For a moment both twins sat there, unmoving and unthinking before they both stood up, moving to follow the man. Morganna barely had sense to grab their backpacks and the wooden sword she'd brought today. Both were worried for their mother after all, having seen her in a bad state only hours before._

_They didn't pay attention to the fact he was leading them to the back hallways near pirate cove until they entered the backstage room._

_"__Why are we here? I thought you were taking us to daddy?" Morganna asked, dropping the backpacks when she turned around and saw the look on the man's face. Mike took a step back frightened and trembling, but unsure of what to do._

_The man reached towards his back, a glint of steel flashing in the light as he took a step towards them threateningly when Morganna realised she still had her wooden sword in hand. Sure he was an adult, but she knew from experience that hitting a boy between his legs, accidental or not, hurt him pretty badly._

_"__Run Mikey!" She yelled, swinging the sword as hard as she could between the man's legs. He roared at her as both her brother and her ran to either side of him as he clutched at his crotch._

_"__You little bitch-" he said through clenched teeth, moving after them quickly through the pain. He couldn't let them get away, couldn't let them tell anyone._

_They ran, both going towards the safest place they knew, Pirates Cove. It was seven o'clock, so while there were still quite a few people in the pizzeria, they were all over by the main stage, watching Freddy's show still. Foxy would be resting in the Cove during the show._

_"__Foxy!" They both yelled the animatronics' name, bursting past the curtains._

_"__Mikey? Morganna? What be wrong mateys?" The Fox asked, only receiving breathless answers, something about a man in purple._

_However, instead of the man coming from behind the curtains, it was their father._

_"__Mikey? Morganna? You back here again?" The man asked, his voice tired but fondness was clearly present._

_"__Daddy!" They both yelled, throwing themselves into the man's arms, trembling and scared, confusing and concerning their father._

_"__Foxy, did anything happen out of the ordinary tonight?" The man asked. Most parents would assume the animatronic had something to do with it, because they were a little disconcerting with their free roam mode and looks. But Mr. Schmidt was no ordinary parent, he knew his children and knew they wouldn't be afraid of their long-time friends for any reason._

_"__Not that I be knowin' of sir. They just ran in here all scared," the Foxy replied._

_So the situation was left at that. Morganna and Mikey refused to talk about that night, scared to do so. _

_It was in the fall of '87 that the bite happened. Mike and Morganna were visiting the pizzeria again when they ran into the purple man again._

_The show had been going so well, everyone was having fun and then the purple man showed up, trying to herd a group of children away from the Pirate._

_"__You're too close to Foxy kids," he said, acting as if he was just scolding the small group, though he had other plans of course. He didn't realise that the two kids he'd accidentally let get away were in the group nor that they had told Foxy of him. In fact he'd almost forgotten them, figuring he must have scared them so badly they never requested to go back since he hadn't been found out._

_"__It's alright there Guard. They just be listening to one of 'ol Foxy's riveting adventures," the Fox said, trying to get the man to stop trying to pull the kids away. __It was clear that none wanted to go with him and there was a disconcerting look of fear on Mikey and Morganna's faces._

_The man got closer to him, "Hey I'm just doing my job," he claimed. Foxy blinked one moment before there was nothing. The Fox's jaw opened to reply, and then his head jerked forward and clamped down directly on the man's head. A sickening crunch was heard, strange squishy and sickening rips followed before the man's body fell, landing on top of some of the kids._

_Blood splattered on the faces of children from the man's fall and that is when everything fell to shit. Screams echoed in the pizzeria as many rushed out of the restaurant. The man was rushed off in the ambulance, and that was that. The bite of '87 started the decline of Freddy's._

_Foxy never performed again and none of the animatronics' were allowed to leave the stage during day light hours. Morganna and Mike only returned to the pizzeria one time before moving, unable to see their friend to let him know they knew it wasn't his fault. That the man had been bad anyway, that he'd tried to hurt them._

Neither Mike nor Morganna knew what the total fall out had been like at the pizzeria, nor did they currently either. They didn't know that Foxy didn't even remember biting the man, that he took all the fault of the incident upon himself despite the likely hood of malfunction. Morganna didn't know how surprised he'd been by her visit, assuming that they'd be terrified of him, remembering only the blood that he'd spilt above anything else.

The twins however had believed the incident to be their faults for the longest time, since they had kept the incident that happened with the purple man months before to themselves. It took a lot of time before they realised that while yes, they made a mistake in not speaking up about the incident, it wasn't their faults that what had happened. The one truly at fault had been the purple man in the first place. She hoped he died from those injuries, as wrong as that was she didn't care. He'd caused both twins emotional turmoil for years and it was his fault that Foxy lost his show and the animatronics couldn't roam the restaurant any longer. It was all that man's fault.

Morganna shook her head, now wasn't time to be thinking of the past again. It would only make her bitter and angry. She went through a few more links before finding an unfamiliar article that unsettled her.

"What?" She said to herself, reading the article.

Kids Vanish at Local Pizzeria – Bodies Not Found

She'd never heard of this incident, but reading through it she found that it didn't happen at the current location. It happened in '79 back when the restaurant was named Freddy Fredbear's. Scrolling down she found another article.

Five Children Now Reported Missing – Suspect Convicted

She read through both articles, swallowing thickly. Sure it said the suspect was convicted, but… there was that man who had tried to, what had he tried to do? Kidnap them? Kill them? She wasn't sure, hadn't let things go far enough to know, but the fact he tried to do something, it was frightening. There wasn't any way it could be the same man, since the article said that the man had been convicted even without the bodies being found. She shut down the laptop with a shake of her head.

There wasn't any use thinking on it now. She was worried enough about Mikey, she didn't need to add more worry to the mix. So pushing aside thoughts of the past and her discovery she lied down on the couch, attempting to get some sleep.

* * *

**AN :: For those wondering, this particular story is set in 1999. Morganna's laptop is an old Toshiba satellite model. Why did I choose 1999? Cause it is still in the 90s and has a few things that I wanted to include in the story out by then. I might make a few hiccups here and there, but for the most part everything I include in the story has been released by sometime that year. I mean other than the crazy scifi crap like super advanced AI and all that of course. Thank you all once again for reading! Your comments and praise really have kept me going! I'm actually really far ahead in writing because you guys have encouraged me so much. Thank you again everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and as always I hope you have a wonderful day/night!**

**Edited 1/5/15: Just some minor edits to the end of the memory.**


	8. Morning Calls

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

Surprisingly Morganna woke up before Mike would be home and started on attempting to making an edible breakfast. Attempting would definitely be the correct word after she made two inedible omelettes that even she would admit to being an atrocity, though she'd never actually admit that to anyone but herself of course.

Mike finally got home right after she'd made a decent breakfast, one that while it was a little runny, wasn't somehow burnt and undercooked at the same time. She smiled as she heard the door opening while she got out some plates. Mikey would be so surprised and happy to come home to food she was sure.

"Morg? You're, well you're here. Cooking. Uh," Mike began, frowning. He was slightly frightened, since he knew that his sister was not the best in the kitchen. Though there was no smell of fire, so that was a good sign at least.

"Mikey! Of course I'm here. You didn't think that I'd wait for a call from you? Nope, I am not giving you the chance to give me a stomach ulcer," she said, smiling too widely at him to thoroughly creep him out and get across the fact that she was still unhappy with him.

"Wait- what do you have there? Why do you have a pizza?" Upon actually looking at him she noticed that he was a little worse for wear, but the pizza box he held made her eyes narrow and question him.

"Oh uh- well. Tonight was different. I thought I was caught, but then I passed out. When I woke up they were all there and Chica said she made me a pizza to feel better," he said, it sounded even more crazy when he said it aloud than it did in his head.

"The duck that has been trying to murder you just up and made you a pizza to make you feel better after you apparently passed out in a restaurant of said murderous robots?" She questioned before throwing her arms up. "That's it Mikey, you're officially a Disney Princess. You fainted and the bad guys felt bad for you and changed their evil ways and then gave you a pizza."

"Morg, it wasn't like that-" Mike started, his cheeks heating up in embarrassment at her comment.

"Nope. You're a Princess Mikey. Congratulations. Oh but wait, you have to have a prince don't you? Let me guess, Foxy was your knight in shining armour and Bonnie and the duck were the animal sidekicks while Freddy was the responsible figure after the fact, am I right?" She said with a snort and a secret smile underneath all the snark she was letting loose.

"No- ugh, how am I related to you?" Mike asked exasperated.

"It's because we're twins silly. But back to the matter at hand. In all seriousness, are you alright Mikey? Cause it sounds like a lot just up and changed last night, or this morning, or whatever," she said, going back to the breakfast she made and putting each omelette on a plate. She set them on his table and practically ripped the pizza box from his hands and shoved it none too gently into the refrigerator.

"You're eating the breakfast your sister so lovingly made you. You can eat the duck's pizza for lunch or something," she said sternly, smiling when he quickly sat down at the table instead of questioning her. "Now talk."

"Well ummm… first off, you got to Foxy. So, yeah thank you. They really did think I was an endoskeleton, but I got to work early, so I also kind of talk to them… or at them really But anyways, I tried to get through to them, and because of your talk with him and my talk with him he realised I wasn't an endo and he remembered us. They all did. Chica still doesn't like the fact that you call her a duck by the way," he said with a chuckle.

"Tch, well the duck can deal with it," she said, taking a large bite of her own omelette.

"Okay, whatever, just don't get her mad enough to actually go on a murdering spree. I assume you still want me to talk to my boss?" He asked, taking a bite of his omelette after poking it with his fork a few times. His face looked thoughtful for a moment as he swallowed.

"Wow Morg. You actually made something edible," He said with a shit eating grin that disappeared into a scowl when Morganna reached across the table to flick him hard in the forehead.

"Be glad that I didn't deem that comment to be offensive enough to get up and kick you, ungrateful brat," she muttered darkly with a pout. "And of course, I need to look at them now. For them to remember you and I and actually process feelings, emotions, it's just. No words can describe how utterly amazing that would be if it's true."

Morganna's face was lit up as she spoke, the idea of actual fully functioning artificial intelligence that had the capacity for growth was beyond what she'd ever thought she'd see in their lifetimes. Sure she believed Mike when he told her about the animatronics wandering and all that, but she never thought that the idea of them actually being sentient could be true. She'd convinced herself that it was just their imaginations as children that made the animatronics seem so lifelike.

Mike could understand her excitement, though it was for admittedly different reasons. He was happy that they hadn't been wrong as children. If they had been, well it wouldn't have changed the happy memories, but it would change his current view of himself. He wasn't one to deny his faults after all, and to find out the only ones he thought of as friends were just programmed responses, that would be a devastating blow to his already low opinion of himself.

"Alright," he said, finishing up the last bit of the food. "I'm going to head on to bed. When I wake up I'll call up the pizzeria and see if the boss is in."

"Sound good little brother, sounds good," she said with a grin at his appearing grimace. "I'll sleep a bit more myself. If we're going to be doing this sleep over thing often, I'll buy you a better couch. The one you have sucks," she stuck out her tongue at him as he stood up from the table and moved out of the room.

"You are just the most mature person I know, aren't you?" Mike asked sarcastically, only pausing to glance back at his sister who was following behind him for a moment.

"And you sir are the least sarcastic bundle of joy I know. You know you love me Mikey," she said with a grin as she stopped him by drawing her arms around him in a backwards hug. Her grin dropped into a more serious look, though Mike couldn't see it. Her voice was soft and fragile with her next words, "I'm really glad you're okay Mikey."

Mike frowned at that, knowing that Morganna very rarely said such things, and yet she had quite a few times in the last few days. He felt bad, knowing how much he had worried her and how much she hated these shows of feelings most days. Wallowing in his own self-pity and keeping her at an arm's length away had started everything; really it was his own fault he got into such a bad situation in the first place. He moved her arms from around him as he turned around before bringing her into a tight hug.

"I'm- Thank you Morg. I- I'm sorry I haven't been the best brother lately. Thanks for being here for me when I needed it most," he said, meaning every word.

"T-There's not much else I'm good for Mikey, 'cept being here." Morganna said with a shaky laugh and even shakier smile. "Just don't make a habit of needing me too much; you know I'm not always the best sister either."

Her smile was crooked and uncertain and Mike knew that she really believed that she wasn't a good sister at all. They both had their problems, their shortcomings, and things they worried about. Neither was perfect, but nobody was.

_"_I couldn't have a better sister than you Morg," he said with a larger smile now, watching her cheeks turn red.

"Tch. You're making me too soft-hearted Mikey. Now go get some sleep you big oaf," she said pulling away and slapping his arm playfully.

"Yes ma'am!" He responded with a wink and retreated to his bedroom, promptly stripping down to his underclothes before collapsing on his bed. It didn't take very long for him to fall asleep.

Morganna, on the other hand, took much longer to get to sleep again. Laying on his couch a throw blanket over her shoulders her eyes closed she began thinking. Thinking about herself mostly, what she'd been feeling lately, how she'd been acting. It had been a while since she was so introspective.

She knew for a fact she was not the greatest person in the world. Selfish and ambitious were the most common words that others would use to describe her. She was independent; she really didn't need anyone to keep going about her life. The whole 'murderous animatronics' trying to kill her brother' situation however had brought about a revelation to her. While yes, she could live without him for a few months, ultimately she was dependent on Mike, probably more so than he was on her.

Trust did not come easily to either of the twins. They'd had only each other for so long, been betrayed by those who pretended to be their friends before that they only found comfort in one another. In the end however, Morganna doubted that she would be as accomplished if her brother died or suddenly disappeared. She'd be a self-destructive mess, a path she'd started down in high school before being pulled from it by her twin. No- it was Mikey who kept her looking forward, gave her hope, without him her world just wouldn't be the same.

Morganna didn't place much stock in other people. They all ended up disappointing her in some way or another. That was why almost every relationship she had went south, she couldn't trust her partners and so even those who were trustworthy left her eventually if she didn't break it off earlier. Maybe it was wrong of her, to cling dependently to her brother the way she did, but she did it none the less without even realising it most days.

The thought of losing him scared her more than any other. She was glad that the animatronics' had remembered him, she didn't know what she would have done if he'd been hurt or killed. Her hand clenched into a fist at the thought. Her early reminiscing about their near kidnapping or murder had done nothing to abate the feelings of uneasiness that had grown since Mikey had called her the previous day.

Breathing deep she let the thoughts go, there wasn't any use thinking on them now. Mike was safe, he'd make sure she got to look at the animatronics, and then she wouldn't have to worry any more. The danger had passed; she just had to let the lingering feelings go. Sure there were still some mysteries, but they would be easy enough to unravel in the coming day if all went well.

So finally with few thoughts floating around in her mind she relaxed and fell off into slumber once more.

* * *

When Mike woke up, he felt so much better than he had in weeks. He felt light, like a large weight had been lifted. He also felt, well happy, which was strange as well. He couldn't remember when he'd last woken up feeling refreshed and happy. He'd been worry about his debt and finding a job for so long that he hadn't time to do anything that made him happy. It was kind of funny that the animatronics remembering him and not murdering him was all it took to make him feel happiness again.

Sitting up and stretching, he yawned before rolling his shoulders back and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. A quick glance at his bedside alarm clock showed it was two in the afternoon and that meant that he'd sleep a full night for the first time in weeks. Cracking his back again as he stood up, he smiled, it was no wonder he felt so good. A full night's sleep and no longer having to fear for his life apparently made for a good combination. Maybe he should get into dangerous situations more if he'd feel this good afterward, except no he'd never actually do that.

He went to stand up and get dress, though was stopped when he heard his phone ringing from the close he'd thrown on the floor the night before. Fumbling through the pile he finally pulled it out of his jacket's pocket, slightly familiar numbers were displayed on the Nokia's slightly fading screen, so he accepted the call.

"Hello? You've reached Mike Schmidt, may I ask who is calling?" He asked, unsure who exactly would be calling him. He hoped it wasn't one of the debt collectors, though he did have their number programmed into his phone as they called him, so again hopefully not.

"Ah. Hello Mike, this is Mr. Becker. I was wondering if you'd be able to come in later today. There is a certain matter I'd like to discuss with you," the man said, his voice stern and unwavering but there was a certain nervousness it held as well.

"O-Oh? I- I'm not in trouble am I? I mean- I didn't do anything wrong as far as I know," Mike trailed off nervously.

"No- no trouble my boy. I just need to ask you a few questions about your shifts thus far that's all," the man said quickly. "I'll be leaving at six today, so if you could come in around then that would be great Mike."

"Of course sir, I'll see you then." Mike replied, his heading nodding reflexively though the man on the phone wouldn't be able to see it. He heard a click and lowered his phone, the call ended and his positive mood flying from him.

What would the boss be asking him? Did he do something that would have got him fired? But he'd been forced to sign the contract that said he'd work the five days. Oh- he stopped suddenly, realising at that moment that he had breached that contract when he called Morganna up. It said that he couldn't talk about his job at Freddy's, yet he had. Then of course there was the matter of Morg going and fixing up Foxy after he'd hurt the fox more.

If any of that was known… well then it wasn't a wonder that the boss was calling him. Still- he sounded a bit strange. Maybe that wasn't the case. Still it was alarming, knowing that he was going into a meeting with his boss blind without a clue as to why, or maybe rather too many clues as to why.

He shook his head and headed towards his shower. After a quick shower he got dressed and then left the room. Moving into his kitchen he put the tea kettle on and pulled out a lemon grass blend of tea. He stood there lost in thoughts while waiting for the water to boil. The whistle of the pot brought him out of his trance and back to the present.

Going through the ritual of making tea was calming, the calming aroma helping his nerves as well. Grabbing the cup he'd made for Morganna, he went to wake her up. Setting the cup down as he leaned down to gently shake her shoulder.

"Morg. It's time to wake up," he said, quietly at first until his voice reached a normal volume. Waking her gently was the only way not to be bitched out or nearly punched he'd learned. She was quite a deep sleeper and she could indeed lash out if woken suddenly. She muttered a bit, but clearly wasn't waking up just yet.

"Come on then little dragon," he teased, smiling when she was awake enough to scrunch up her nose.

"Not little," was her drowsy reply, "you're only three inches taller than me."

"I've made some lemon grass tea," he said simply, smiling as she lethargically groaned and moved her body into a slumped sitting position.

"Teaaaa," she groaned out, one hand out stretched, the other hand rubbing at her eyes like a child. He laughed softly at the sight, shaking his head.

"You should see your hair right now," he said as he handed her the steaming cup, making sure she actually had hold of it before letting go. "It's like a big poofy nest."

"Ugh, Mikey. You sure know how to make a girl feel beautiful," she said with a slight scowl as she took a deep breath over her cup of tea, sighing at the lovey scent. Sipping it she smiled.

"At least I taught you how to make a cup of tea correctly though, you might just make a good husband for someone someday," she said with a laugh at the pout that formed on his face.

He left the room for a moment, retrieving his own cup of tea and sat down on the couch next to her, both drinking their tea in silence for a moment before Mike said anything. "My boss called me about an hour ago. He wants me to come in before six to talk to him."

"What? Do you think he knows about me fixing up Foxy or…" Morganna trailed off, not sure why his boss would want to see him other than for some negative reason.

"I'm not sure. But well- I'm sure it's unusual for guards to stay at this place. I'm sure many others have just left, since the only penalty for up and quitting is no pay. He said it wasn't because I was in trouble though," Mike replied with a thoughtful look on his face. He was still trying to figure out what his boss would want to talk to him about.

"I'm going with you then Mikey. Just in case. But hey, you needed to ask him about me coming in and looking at the animatronics right? So as long as he isn't firing you then it's not a total loss of a trip, two birds one stone and all," she said, attempting to be a bit positive.

"Alright, then that's the plan. We'll leave around half past five I guess, so be ready by then," he said with a shrug.

"We've got two hours to kill till then and I brought this!" Morganna exclaimed, setting down her tea and reaching into one of her bags, pulling out her Gameboy Color. "If you sold the Gameboy I got you, I hope you're prepared to be punched."

He laughed shaking his head as he reached for the table beside the couch, opening it's drawer and pulling it out. "I would never," he replied with a grin.

"Pokemon battle then?" He asked, smirking a bit. "I have a new team line up."

"Ohh you are going down Mikey. I let you beat me last time, but not this time," she replied with a grin as she connected the cables to each machine in a much practised motion. For the moment both pushed worried thoughts from their mind.

* * *

**AN :: Hello everyone! Thank you for sticking with me thus far! I know this chapter isn't much, but I hope you enjoyed it none the less. If all goes well another chapter will be up rather soon! Again any feedback, suggestions, or questions are welcome via review or pm. Thank you again for your time and support everyone! As always I hope you have a lovely day/night!**


	9. An Evening at Freddy's

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

Morganna had won three of the five battles they had, bringing about their total win vs losses back to even before they headed out to get to the pizzeria.

Walking in no one stopped them, despite not having a child with them. Morganna had thought that odd when she visited the pizzeria the day before.

"Security during the day is really lax, huh Mikey? I mean… I just waltzed in yesterday too. You'd think they'd stop adults without children from coming in. I mean, what adult would come here for no reason other than to be creepy. I mean, other than us of course, we have a legitimate reason," she said with a nod.

"I dunno. This is my first time being here during business hours. It is a bit odd though," he said with a shake of his head.

"Alright Mikey. You go do your thing, don't get fired. I'm going to order a pizza cause we forgot to eat, so I'll be over at the tables when you're done," she said before going to do so.

Mike bit his lip idly still nervous about the meeting with his boss. He shot the band on stage a smile when they glanced his way, surprised when Chica waved his way while Freddy and Bonnie both nodded their head in acknowledgment. It made him feel a bit better, at least he knew that the previous night hadn't been a dream. After another moment he pulled aside a passing waitress.

"Excuse me Miss. I'm Mike Schmidt, the night guard here. I'm supposed to meet with Mr. Becker," he said, his voice betraying a bit of his nerves. Her eyes widened a bit at his introduction.

"Oh! Yeah. I remember you," she said with a smile. "I'm happy you're still here, all the other night guards… just weren't cut out for the job I guess. Anyways, yeah! Mr. Becker should be in his office down the hall there. He's expecting you, so just knock before you go in."

"Thanks miss," he said with a nod, surprised when she didn't leave just yet.

"The name's Jamie. I hope to see you around," she said with another smile before moving away with a wave.

He blinked, a bit confused before shaking his head. It must be unusual for night guards to stay let alone come in during the day. If he was still unable to get through to the animatronics he doubted he'd be there during the day either.

Moving down the hallway he eventually came to stand outside of Mr. Becker's office. He stood there a moment, thoughts in a nervous jumbled mess. Finally he raised his hand to knock on the door, but before he could it opened. He flinched slightly at the sudden movement, quickly dropping his hand.

"Ah! Mike, you're here. Good, good. Come in, come in," the man said with a smile, herding the younger man into the room and into a chair.

"Ah- Good day Sir, wh-what did you want to speak to me about?" Mike asked nervously after a few seconds of silence erupted after the man sat down.

"Well according to the company records the power went out last night at around four am. Yet you're still…" the man trailed off pursing his lips.

"So, you do know what happens to the animatronics after hours then?" Mike stated more than he asked, a sigh escaping him. He wasn't sure what he had hoped, but it was clear that the man knew he had been sending people to their deaths.

"I am sorry I didn't tell you about them moving Mike, but you wouldn't have stayed. We need someone to do this job," the man said, trying to justify what he had done.

"You- you've sent people to die here," Mike choked out after a few uneasy moments of silence.

"Most of the night guards leave after the first night; the ones that have stayed on are those who have no one. They knew the risks. No one's died on the first night," the man started, his voice steady. "I-I never liked it, but I'm not fully in charge here. I just keep operations moving along for the owner."

"That you don't like what you've done doesn't excuse that you did it. What about the guy who left those messages? The phone guy? Did he die here too?" Mike's voice cracked as he spoke. He couldn't believe what the man in front of him had let happen.

"Phone guy? Oh, you mean Phillip. Phillip was, he was a special case. He loved the animatronics and stayed despite the risks. It was a sad day when we lost him, but he fully knew the risks. He left those messages for the new night guards two years ago. He'd been at the job for about two months, when he… passed it was sad, but he knew it was a possibility," Mr. Becker said, voice emotionless but tight sounding.

Mike didn't know what to say. He'd made the assumption that the man had died, because he didn't give the impression that he was leaving the job during those calls, but to hear it was another matter. The man in front of him had let another man die, let many others take this job without knowing the risks.

"You, however, are the first to still be here after a power outage," the man went on to say. "The owner wishes to know how you've survived."

"They remembered me, I used to come here as a child." Mike replied, not giving the man much else, his own thoughts in too much turmoil to elaborate.

"They remembered you? That shouldn't be possible. They have never seen anyone as anything but an endoskeleton after hours," the man said, his hands folding together in a thoughtful pose.

"Freddy said that he and Bonnie still see me as an endo, but Chica and Foxy see me as I am," Mike offered.

"I see," the man said, though he did not. It shouldn't have been possible, given that a few of the other night guards had also been patrons of the pizzeria as children. What made Mike special?

"Sir? Could you maybe talk to the owner for me? My sister, she's a robotic engineer and I could ask her to look at the animatronics. Perhaps she could fix whatever makes them see humans as endoskeletons at night? Freddy was convinced it was a glitch of some sort in their programming," he said, finally bringing up the question.

"I'm sorry to say this Mike, but that just won't be possible I wanted to ask to speak to you today not just because of the power outage, but also because we're officially shutting down the restaurant in two weeks' time," the man said shaking his head.

"I- oh," Mike didn't know what to say. It was clear that the animatronics hadn't been informed.

"The pizzeria hasn't brought in enough money to justify the cost of running it. So Mr. Sinclair has decided to shut it down. I apologise Mike, but I thought I'd at least let you know in case you would be staying with us," the man said, sounding apologetic at least on the surface.

"I- I understand sir. Thank you for the heads up," Mike said, though he didn't mean any of the words he spoke. "I'll just be going then."

"Of course Mike. Just remember, you signed a contract. All that we spoke of today is under that contract," Mr. Becker stated in a vaguely threatening manner.

"Of course sir," Mike replied standing and moving towards the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow night then son," the man said, looking down at the paper work on his desk again, not watching as the night guard left the room, closing the door behind him.

Mike breathed deeply in the hallway, almost not believing the conversation that he had with the boss. Even knowing that the phone guy, Phillip, had said… he still couldn't believe that the pizzeria actually did cover up the deaths of any night guard stuffed into a suit. It was almost as if no one cared about the lives that were lost, no, they really didn't care.

The animatronics may have been responsible for the deaths, in the sense that they were the murderers, but it was clear to Mike that the real monsters were the ones that knew it was happening and just let it. He clenched his fists tightly, feeling the bite of his nails against his skin and stood there. Breathing deep he shook his head, forcing himself to relax before leaving the hallway to go find his sister.

* * *

Okay, so maybe ordering a whole pizza for herself was a bit much. But hey she was hungry, both her and Mikey had forgotten to eat anything on the way out of his apartment. They still had that pizza that Chica had made too, it would get eaten eventually though. Morganna could vaguely recall that Chica's specially made pizzas were far superior to the ones the actual chefs of the pizzeria made.

Still, four slices later and she was full with still quite a bit of pizza left. Mikey would have some when he came back she was sure, since he hadn't eaten either, but then there would be more pizza to take back to his place… that had more pizza waiting for them in. She sighed, oh well. At least that met that she didn't have to try to cook again for the next day.

It had been about forty minutes since Mike had headed to the office, and though she didn't show it, she was worried. She hoped everything was alright. Looking up she saw the Chica looking directly at her, pulling on a cheeky grin she waved, laughing as the chicken deliberately looked away. Bonnie waved to her though, so that was a good sign.

Morganna was caught up in her thoughts again as a voice loudly addressed her, making her jump and scowl in the process.

"Miss! Oh Miss! You're here again today?" A familiar child's voice said excitedly.

"Edi! Slow down, and leave that poor woman alone," Another slightly less, but still familiar, voice called out softly.

"She's the one that gave me that nickname! Oh, I never found out your name though," the girl said with a pout after plopping herself in a chair across from her.

"I don't give my name out to strangers," she said sticking her tongue out at the girl, a little revenge for the girl having startled her. Edi pouted before laughing.

"Oh- is. Umm. Morganna right? We used to go to school together," The other woman sat herself down by the girl. It clicked in Morganna's head why the young strawberry blonde woman was familiar.

"Yes and you were… Miss invite everyone in the school for my birthday party right? Alicia Sinclair?" She asked with a smirk as the other's face turned red.

"Mother insisted on that…" she said trailing off, cheeks burning.

"Hahaha- I'm not judging. I was just poking fun at you," Morganna replied with a laugh. "If I recall correctly you were nearly downright miserable on that day up until we played with Foxy. I think that was the only time I'd ever seen you smile, though I suppose we never did interact at school much."

"Ah- no we didn't. I wish we had, I'm sure I wouldn't have been quite so down if I had you and your brother's antics to cheer me up," she shot back, face still flushed in embarrassment.

"That you would, that you would. Too bad we weren't interested in friends other than each other. Anyway- enough talk of the past, so little Miss give my name out to anyone is your sister?" She asked curiously, seeing the slight similarities between the strawberry blonde haired woman and the red head in front of him.

"Hey I did not-"

"She's my half-sister, and insists on coming here quite often. I thought I'd come and reminisce today. But Edith, really? I've told you time and time again, don't talk to strangers." She said with an exasperated sigh.

"Ohoho. So do you take on the mother hen role now Alicia?" Morganna teased, watching Alicia scold the younger girl with an old fashioned hand gesture she could vaguely recall her own mother doing towards her quite often. The phrase 'shame upon you' often being repeated with the gesture, which of course always worked simply because the quiet sombre tone was far more effective than any yelling that could have been done.

Alicia furrowed her brow at the other woman with a frown, narrowing her eyes slightly. The brunette laughed at the blonde's expression, presumably an attempt at a glare.

"Hey, hey. I know how siblings are remember? Though you're far better at the mothering than I am," she said, snickering as she watched Edith pout, still feeling rather down about being scolded. "Hey kid your sister means well, she's just worried about you. Why don't you go play with your friends while your sister and I catch up? Just be safe, I'm sure you know not to talk to strangers now right?" she questioned, only just keeping back a laugh as the girl brightened up immediately and bounded away towards Freddy's stage.

"So Miss Alicia, come here often?" She asked, brows moving up and down in a ridiculous gesture that made the other girl nearly choke and blush. Morganna grinned at the reaction, just keeping back another round of laughter.

"Ahem. No. Not really. Edith's Mother, my Step Mother, normally brings her. I just thought I'd come today, since she had an appointment that she won't be done with until later today. What about you?" Alicia asked, recovering from her embarrassment as quickly as she could, willing the pinkness in her cheeks to go down. Morganna was different, to say the least, from those she typically interacted with.

Alicia was from a very wealthy family, one that was on the high end of society. They had parties that the Mayor attended, been to big expensive dinners, and so on. They were essentially the modern aristocracy, but Morganna threw her in a way that those more important figures didn't. Perhaps it was because they had been old school mates, but more likely it was because of Morganna's nature. She was different, compared to most of the people Alicia interacted with. The brunette threw her through a loop with the way she acted, the way she made Alicia herself act in retaliation, but she'd liked it the few times they interacted back when they were children and she rather liked it presently too. The other woman was a hint of fresh air in her otherwise stuffy life.

"Eh… Well my brother got a job here. Night Security guard and all that, he's actually speaking to the manager right now. Seeing if he can get me a look at the animatronics, since they've been acting a bit wacky and aren't exactly in the best condition. While I don't need the money, Mikey thought perhaps I could even do it for free, since we both loved Freddy and the gang when we were younger," she explained, not leaving in much of the why for her explanation, but not lying either.

"Oh- umm. You don't know?" Alicia asked, a bit of sadness creeping into her voice.

"Huh? Know what?" Morganna asked, confused by the other girls tone of voice.

"They plan to officially shut down the Pizzeria in two weeks' time, they didn't tell your brother?" Alicia asked in concern.

"No, they did not. I'm sure they'll tell him now though," Morganna said sullenly, not saying the other concerning thoughts she had.

"I- That's why I'm here. I just- I wanted to remember the good times and maybe try to talk my father into keeping this place open," Alicia said with a sigh. She flinched back when Morganna suddenly was closer to her, almost directly in face.

"Your father owns this place?" Morganna's face was serious and emotionless.

"W-Well, well kind of. He bought Fazbear Entertainment when the company was declining in '88. I mean, he just provides money to keep it running. He never was involved with the company or the restaurant other than that," She said with a shrug. "I'm actually confused as to why he kept this place running as long as he did. Since it never did turn a profit like I assumed he wanted it to."

"So that's why this place was able to keep open after the incidents in '87, because your father bought it and kept it afloat?" She asked, this time leaning back in her seat again.

"Yes. I don't know why. I think it was a sentimental reason though. This was the last place we really went to together before his company expanded and started taking up all of his time," Alicia said with another shrug.

Morganna's eyebrows shot up, "Your father bought a restaurant basically for you then?"

"Well, I guess, kind of? It wasn't like I could come here though. I was very ill just after the incident in '87 and couldn't come back. I think this is the second time I've been here since my birthday party here," she said, a wistful expression on her face.

Morgonna frowned, she hadn't know that the other girl had been sick. But then again after their mother's death, their father moved Mike and her to a nearby town. That had been in '88 and thinking about it now… well she hadn't seen the girl in school much after her birthday party.

"Oh I- sorry if I brought up any bad memories," she said in a rare moment of empathy. "I remember now, you weren't around much after your birthday. We moved soon after that though, so I'd forgotten."

"It's alright. I'm much better now. Anyway, I hope to change my father's mind, though it's unlikely. He said he doesn't see this place doing anything but sucking money from him. He might be right, since this place is rather rundown, however I think there is a lot that can be done to save this place. I'm hoping I can convince him to remodel instead of shutting it down totally," the blonde said with conviction. It was clear that she did care about what happened to Freddy's, even if she was older. The determination in her voice made Morganna relax a bit and smile.

"Well I-" she began saying before she was cut off.

"Morganna, I finished talking with the manager…" Mike had come up, not noticing that she'd been talking to someone. He trailed off, frowning for a moment as he looked at the woman across from his sister, a little light of recognition in his eyes.

"Dear brother you interrupted me," Morganna spoke up with a dramatic sigh.

"Wow Morg, I hadn't expected to find you out here being social," he prodded, tension leaving him for a moment as he poked a bit of fun of her.

"Yes well, stranger things have happened," she said, her eyebrows flashing upwards making both him and Alicia laugh. Both twins paused at the laughter that had come from the other young woman.

"I-I'd almost for-forgotten how-how funny you two could be," she said between giggles. Both twins grinned.

"We're glad to be of some amusement to you Milady," Mike said with an exaggerated bow before he sat down beside his sister. Swiping up a piece of pizza he started eating.

"Sorry Alicia, but I need to eat before my shift begins," he said after he swallowed down a bite.

"No need to apologise- it's nice to see you-"

"Oh! Who's this? Why does he look like Morg?" Edith came bouncing over, Freddy's show at an end for the moment.

"Hey, it's Morganna to you squirt. This is Mike, my twin brother," Morganna answered, leaning over to bump her shoulder to her brother's.

"Twin? Like on TV?" The little girl asked, obviously having no other reference to make.

"Well, twins exist off television too Edith. Twins are siblings born at the same time. Some look alike, some do not, but it's pretty rare in any case," Alicia explained.

"It's Edi!" The little girl responded, nearly identical in tone to Morganna's previous utterance against her nickname. "Rare? Like a legendary Pokemon?"

Alicia and the twins burst out laughing at that one. Edith pouted and stomped at foot.

"Uheheheahaha, yes Edi, exactly like a legendary Pokemon," Morganna managed to get out between laughs.

Their conversation went on until Freddy's final show started, catching up with Alicia and exchanging funny stories. It was something that the twins were not used to doing, having not been social together for quite a while, let alone with someone who they both knew in the past that they had still friendly relations with. Often times people they talked to only liked one of them, not the other, so they had different friend groups as adults.

Edith and Alicia were friendly and enjoyed the banter that erupted between stories. But the time came for the show and they all sat and watched it together, laughing at the cheesy lyrics they'd all loved as children. Finally the show came to an end and the patrons all filed out of the restaurant.

"Edith!" A woman's voice called out in the crowd.

"Bye Morganna, bye Mike! That's mommy calling," Edith said, skipping through the crowd to her mother.

"I should be going too then. Thank you both for spending the night with us," Alicia said with a smile. "It was really lovely seeing both of you after so long."

"Same to you Missy," Morganna replied with an easy smile.

"Yes, the same to you as well Alicia," Mike said with a nod and smile on his face as well.

"I- Would it be alright if we hung out again sometime? It was- I don't-" The girl fumbled for words. She wasn't the best with words outside of formal settings, which was why she didn't have many close friends herself.

"Of course Alicia," Morganna responded with a warm smile. Mike nodded as well with a similar expression on his face. He pulled out a pen and handed it to his sister as she retrieved a clean napkin from the table. Writing down her name and number, underneath she put Mikes before handing the pen back to him and the napkin to the blonde.

"Here! Call either of us any time after noon any day of the week," she said with a wink.

"Why after noon?" Alicia asked brow furrowed in curiousity.

"Because before noon neither of us will be awake," Mike said with a smile. She laughed and nodded.

"Alright then! Thank you both again. I'll see you guys around then," she said before departing with a wave.

"Nice girl, though she was nice as a kid too," Mike commented, turning to his sister, only to see her watching the girl leave very intently. "Morg are you, are you seriously doing this right now?"

Morganna laughed at her brother's outraged tone, "Doing what?"

"Checking her out," he gritted out with a displeased frown.

"What? I'm just looking," she said with a whine.

"It's rude," Mike snapped heatedly.

"Alright, alright, not looking any more. Happy?" She questioned with a pout.

"No, not really. You already did it," he pointed out unhappily.

"Well I'm sorry I'm not as virtuous as you and I like a good look at a fine backside, I mean it was just a look," she snapped back at him with a glare. "It's not like she'll ever even know! I mean, unless you tell her," she continued with narrowed eyes. He shook his head a sighed, his hand rubbing at his face tiredly.

"Alright, let's just let the matter go," he sighed. "You need to leave now at least. If you want to sneak back in, I won't stop you tonight, but you can't tamper with anyone's programming. I asked the manager but he said the place was closing down and it was out of the question, so if they check the animatronics he would know it was us that messed with things."

"Fine I-" Morganna began before being cut off by an electronic noise, her phone ringing. Bringing out her well-loved Nokia she frowned and answered it.

"Yes? What did you need? What do you mean, how would anyone access the system? What? Alright, fine yes. I'll be over to check it out," She said with a sigh. "Give me an hour to get there, alright Dave?"

"Everything alright?" Mike asked after she hung up.

"Yes, well not for the law firm down town. Their whole network just crashed, the one that I helped set up," she said with a sigh. She almost regretted taking that job, but it had paid well. "Dave said it might be hackers, or some kind of mechanical malfunction so I gotta go and check it out."

"Oh alright, will you be coming back tonight?" He questioned, receiving a nod as soon as the words left his mouth.

"Of course dummy. I'll be back asap. But you call me if anything goes wrong, alright?" She said sternly as she adjusted her purse. Thank god she insisted on riding her motorcycle everywhere, she would not be able to stand Mikey's shitty car.

"Yes mom," he replied with a smile and gave her a quick hug. "Safe riding as always Morg."

"Yes mooom," she replied back with a laugh and a wave as she left with the last few remaining people.

Mike looked at the clock, grimacing as he noticed it was only a little passed eight, meaning he had four hours before his shift actually started. Looking at the stage he saw it was still in bad shape, so he started towards the supply closet with the intent to properly clean it up. Sure he wasn't going to be paid for it, but it was something to do.

As he went about cleaning he couldn't help but think on what he'd learnt that day. How the pizzeria was going to be shut down, that they knew what transpired there and let it happen. What other secrets was the company keeping and what was the purpose of any of this? There had to be a bigger picture, if it was all for money… that thought just made Mike feel sick. He shook his head, he didn't have anything to go off of. All he knew was that someone else owned the company and his name was-

Mike stopped thinking at that moment, his thoughts backtracking. Didn't Becker say that the man's name was Mr. Sinclair? He'd only mentioned the owner by name one time, but he was certain it was Sinclair. Was that Alicia's father? He'd have to talk to Morganna about it, considering that she'd spent the time he was with the manager with the other woman. He shook his head, not sure what to do with the information he had, going back to cleaning almost mindlessly.

He waved to the cleaners as they came in, the young one scowling and going about his business. The older one hobbled his way over to the stage, though he still stayed away from the animatronics. Mike supposed cleaning up the bodies of their victims was enough to scare them away from even going near them. His fist clenched tightly around the mop for a moment before he told himself they had just been doing their jobs. It wasn't right, but he could understand that you did what you had to for a pay check.

"Helping out again young'un?" The man asked, his rough voice was kind unlike how he'd sounded the previous night.

"Uh- yeah. I just thought you guys could use the help," he said, a hesitant smile on his face.

"We appreciate it. I-" the man started, his voice changing to an uneasy tone. "You should quit this job. You know what they do, don't you?"

"What they do? That they move around at night?" Mike questioned, unsure as to where the man was going with his line of questioning.

"Look, you're a nice young man. You seem smart enough, but you're crazy if you stay here. Those things are dangerous," the man finally declared after a moment of silence.

"They- They aren't so bad. Don't worry sir, I'll be alright." Mike said, with a nod.

"Alright, no one can say I didn't try to warn you," the man sighed. "Try not to get yourself killed boy."

"I will do my best sir," He said with a smile. It was- well it was nice to be worried about by someone other than his sister.

The man walked away to clean up the party room, while Mike went back to cleaning the stage floor for the rest of the night.

* * *

**AN :: And so the other character I was talking about in the beginning has been introduced. Things are starting to move forward once more. The next few chapters will be giving hints to where exactly the story is ultimately going. As always I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns feel free to shoot me a pm or review. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!**


	10. Phone Guy's Last Night

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

When midnight finally came about Mike was back in the security office again. He'd cleaned off the animatronics again and returned all the cleaning equipment before finally heading down the hallway.

He waited for the phone call from phone guy, or rather Phillip, Mr. Becker had said. He jumped when it rang and waited for the voicemail to start up.

_"__Hello, Hello? Hey! Hey, wow, day four. I knew you could do it. Uh, hey, listen, I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow,"_ there was a banging that could be heard, as thought it was in the room. Mike couldn't help but jump when he heard it, clenching his fists as the message continued.

_"__It's-It's been a bad night here for me. Um, I-I'm kinda glad I that I recorded my messages for you, uh, when I did. Uh, hey, do me a favour,"_ another bang was heard making Mike tense up. _"Maybe sometime, uh, you could check inside those suits in the back room?"_ More banging started up. The animatronics really hadn't given the guy a break at all.

_"__I'm gonna to try to hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won't be so bad."_ Mike flinched again at the banging. He felt his throat close up, a wave of sadness hitting him. _"Uh, I-I-I-I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there,"_ Freddy's song started up and Mike closed his eyes. _"You know…"_ a moan came next making Mike swallow. _"Oh, no-"_ and finally a loud screech and nothing.

He just listened to a man's dying words. Regardless if he was killed there or in the backroom, those were the last words he ever said to a person.

"Mikey."

Mike jumped, not having checked that the animatronics were still on stage or not, since he presumed he didn't have to worry about them. He hadn't thought they'd come back to the office so soon after midnight, since they never did before. Foxy had been the one to speak, his frame hunched over in sadness, all of them looked sad.

"Did- were you there the whole time?" He questioned, fearing the answer. He wasn't sure how they were going to react to the fact that they'd killed so many people.

"Aye, we- we were," Foxy replied, his voice stuttering and sounding like he was only just not crying.

"We-we-we killed that-that man!" Chica all but wailed. If she could cry she would be sobbing, as it was her voice was making strange static cracking noises.

"I- Have all the endos been human?" Bonnie questioned, voice monotone, but mechanical ears drooped low.

Freddy remained silent for a moment, eyes closed before speaking.

"They deserved it and more, they were like him," His voice was low demonic sounding. His eyes snapped open to reveal black eyes with two tiny pinpricks of lights in them.

"F-F-Freddy?" Mike stuttered out, his body moving away from the bear. The bear stepped towards him, eyes unmoving from Mikey's own.

"You aren't like them, are you?" The demonic voice asked again, Mike knew this wasn't Freddy. Only just managing to keep himself calm he shook his head.

"No, I'm not like them. You remember me, don't you Freddy?" He spoke calmly, nervousness lilted through his voice though. He looked directly at Freddy's eyes though, hoping eye contact would help… help whatever was happening.

"We remember you," The voice sounded again for a moment.

"Freddy? Freddy are you alright? How could you say that?" The chicken questioned finally after a few moments of silence, the others looking at him with confusion and concern. What was happening? The bear's eyes closed and opened to reveal blue eyes once more.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" He asked, blinking in confusion.

"You- something strange just happened," Mike squeaked out. It was frightening; he could feel panic clawing at his mind again. His breathing picked up again and though he knew it was happening he couldn't stop it. He could hear screams even though the pizzeria was silent other than the buzzing of lights. His vision wavered, blending colours and doing nothing to help his mounting panic attack.

"Mikey! Lad, calm down. Deep breaths now, remember? Breath in and out, in and out Lad. It's alright, Captain Foxy won't let anything happen to you," Foxy rambled, keeping up a litany of calming words. He moved to crouch in front of the chair, taking Mikey's hands and letting the human squeeze his tightly, watching helplessly as the man attempted to gain back control of himself through the connection.

Finally his vision returning and blood pounding in his ears instead of screams he started to calm down. Gasping breaths finally returning to normal as he pulled his hands away from Foxy's to wipe at the few tear trails that had formed. His head down he apologised quietly. "Sorry…"

"Hey there Lad, no need to apologise, remember? We're all friends here and we understand," the fox said soothingly, reaching up to pet the man's head. It made Mike feel like a child again for a moment, like things were going to be okay like they had been.

Vaguely he could hear the others speaking as his thoughts scrambled to catch up to him.

"Freddy something happened to you, it was scary," Chica muttered to him. "We don't know what it is."

"Your eyes got dark and then you spoke in a really deep voice," Bonnie offered, though he too had no explanation.

"I-I didn't move to hurt Michael, did I?" He asked in concern. They shook their heads.

"No, you asked him if he was like the others and then said you remembered him," Bonnie replied arms crossing as he spoke. He realised suddenly that he hadn't liked the feeling of confusion, that he hated not knowing what had happened or why it had happened. Poor Mike suffered another panic attack and they didn't know why.

That wasn't true, however. Freddy knew something, but he didn't speak up about it. The others didn't remember, they couldn't remember, since they'd only just been built right before the incident. He knew now, partially what was happening. Not everything of course, but enough, and so he kept silent. Talking about it would only cause more panic at the moment. He'd reveal his knowledge if it was needed, though he wished he could forget that terrible incident.

If Freddy was truthful, he had doubts about the endoskeletons they tried to stuff into suits far before the others. Ever since they stuffed one into a suit during a particular summer two years ago, this one had escaped them for weeks before they'd caught it. For most of those last few days, he could barely remember going after the endo until they caught him. Still he hadn't believed it, didn't want to believe it, and let their game continue. The others didn't notice that he gave the endo's more leeway, waiting more days before joining the game himself, moving around the pizzeria more instead of just standing outside of the office.

"I'm alright now Foxy, thank you." The human finally spoke up, his voice still wavering a small bit. He and the animatronics all jumped when the heard a high pitched ringing noise. Mike recovered quickly, reaching into his jacket pocket for his phone and lifting it to his ear.

"Hello?" He answered, unconsciously nodding a bit when he heard the reply.

_"__Hey Mikey. Just letting you know I'll be back to the pizzeria in about an hour and a half. Stupid network just needed rebooted and some wires plugged back in. Some idiots were knocking around the machines, presumably doing something rather inappropriate for the workplace. Anyway long story short there's a crap ton of misplaced wires and some not even plugged into the system. Shouldn't take long to fix, but the ride back's going to take at least forty-five minutes," _she complained with a moan.

"Alright, I'll see you then. Safe driving Morg," He uttered, hanging up as she went to scold him on the use of his nickname for her again. Sometimes she did, sometimes she didn't, it all depended on her mood. Annoyance tended to make her less forgiving. The call distracted him from his thoughts and helped calm him down a bit more, so he was alright with being scolded by her later if she choose to remember to do so.

He sighed and turned to the animatronics, knowing that he would have to tell them what he found out today. It wouldn't be right to keep it from them and maybe they could all formulate a plan to save the pizzeria. He pushed the earlier incident out of his mind, instead focusing on the fact that he was talking to his old friends, enjoying their company once more.

He really hoped that they wouldn't freak out about the news.

"Guys, umm. This room is really tiny and I have to tell you guys some stuff, so can we move to the party room to talk?" He asked, surprised as the three quickly nodded.

"Of course Michael," Freddy replied, moving down the hallway with Chica and Bonnie. Foxy lingered as the night guard stood up.

"You really alright lad?" The fox ask quietly, looking the man up and down. Mike smiled at the fox's concern for him, feeling a warmth of affection towards Foxy much like he had as a child.

"I'm alright, thanks for worrying Foxy," Mike said, his small smile not fading.

"I won't stop worrying about my first Matey. I'm glad that ye be okay lad, beyond glad," the fox replied with a grin. If he'd been human his eyes would have opened wide as the man wrapped his arms around him in a sudden hug. Stunned, it took the fox a moment to return he gesture.

Pulling away after a few more moments Mike didn't say anything as he grabbed the animatronic fox's good hand and gently led him down the hallway, a troubled frown on his face.

Once they were all settled in the party room together Mike didn't know what exactly to say. He had to tell them about the closing, sooner than later for he was sure it would come and bite him in the butt if he didn't. Besides, they had a right to know. Still the words weren't coming easily. He pulled out a chair from one of the tables, sitting in it as he thought about what he should say.

"What did you want to talk about Michael?" Freddy was the first to speak after a few minutes of silence.

"It- what I need to say isn't easy," Mike began, unsure of how to continue.

"It's alright lad, take your time," Foxy encouraged him upon seeing how conflicted his matey was.

"They're going to- I mean they are going to," Mike started again, unable to get the words out at first. "They're going to shut down the pizzeria in two weeks."

"What?" Freddy spoke immediately. With the words out Mike could practically feeling the stifling air suffocate him. The other animatronics didn't say anything, but it was clear that they were alarmed. For a while no one moved, all was silent save for the constant buzz of dim lights.

"Is it because of what we've done?" Chica finally spoke up, sadness coating each word.

"No. What happened to those other guards, that wasn't your fault. Management has known about the incidents, covered up each one, if anything it's their faults," Mike said with conviction.

"We were the ones that stuffed them into the suits though," Bonnie spoke quietly. "We made a grand game of it."

"Bonnie, it is not your fault. They knew, they could have done something, but they didn't. A malfunction is something fixable and they choose to do nothing, choose to cover up each incident," his voice was full of fire as he spoke.

"How can ye say it's not our fault lad? We- we should have realised, we were capable to, malfunction or not. Even with ye here, we didn't realise. We tied to stuff ye into a suit, we tried to kill ye Mikey. We- we are the monsters," The fox spoke again, vocal box acting up again as he stuttered out the words.

"No! You are not the monsters. They are," Mike said, though none of the animatronics would looked at him. "They aren't even shutting down the restaurant because of anything you did. It's all presumably for money reasons."

"How- how could they let this happen?" Freddy spoke again as he started pacing. "How could they do this to us?"

The animatronic sounded outraged, his hands clenched so hard that Mike could hear the metal joints groan. The others stood silently, not knowing what to do or say. It was another few moment before Mike's phone jingled, making the man himself jump and bringing the animatronic out of their thoughts for the moment.

"Uh- it's just Morg. She's here," he said quietly after answering the phone. Getting up he walked to the entrance and unlocked the door, letting the woman in. She smiled, though it slipped down to a frown when she noticed the sombre air as she walked further into the party room.

"Whoa, who died?" She asked with a furrowed brow, unable to pinpoint why everyone was so quiet and sad.

"I told them about the pizzeria closing in two weeks," Mike spoke up as he walked back to the chair, sinking down into it with a sigh.

"Is that all?" She asked, eyebrows raised. "We can talk about-"

"We also found out that we murdered many people because of our malfunction," Bonnie chipped in, his voice sounding strangled and full of static. Chica let out another wail, her feathered hands flying up to cover her eyes as if she was going to cry, which she would if she could.

"That's- well. Did you tell them Mikey?" Morganna asked, wondering why her brother would do such a thing; if they really did have feelings, which it was clear now that they did indeed, then the knowledge was less than good for them.

"No, there was a pervious guard who left some recorded messages to help out those who took the job next. They overheard his last message, when they- when they caught him," Mike said, shaking his head. The subject was a bit hard for him too, since while the man had omitted some information from his calls, it was clear that he was the only one trying to help out the future guards. It was clear he hadn't expected to be caught.

"Ah," was all she could get out. What exactly did you say to friends you hadn't seen for years who found out that they were murderers?

Silence erupted through the pizzeria again, each animatronic stuck in their own thoughts while the twins struggled for what to say. In the end Freddy was the first to depart, stomping off to the backstage area, startling everyone for a moment, but no one said anything even then.

In the next few moments Chica departed towards the kitchen without another word, though the sounds of pots and pans banging never came. Bonnie moved towards the stage, picking up his guitar and playing a few sad notes.

Foxy lingered near the twins, but clearly his thoughts were anything but positive. Mike's head fell forward a defeated expression on his face. It was odd for Morganna to see him so open about the dark thoughts that were clearly running through his mind.

"Mikey are you alright?" She asked quietly, leaning down in front of him to see his face.

"I- I didn't want them to know about the other guards, not if they really didn't know," he said quietly, his voice small. "It's not their faults. Now they know because I was too curious about that other guard. I didn't even check to make sure they weren't near the office."

"Hey, come on now Mikey. They would have found out eventually," she pointed out. "So what, it's sooner than later. We just need to talk to them sooner too."

"But what can we possibly say?" Mike asked, he was at a loss for what to do.

Morganna shook her head, she wouldn't let him just give up. To let the situation sit was akin to letting a wound fester, it would only make the feelings the animatronics feel worse.

"Captain! Would you please come here?" Morganna called out to Foxy, the pirate having started to leave the room, presumably heading towards Pirate's Cove.

"What be the matter lass?" The pirate asked, trying to sound upbeat, but failing as his voice came out flat.

"Foxy, how do you feel about the fact that you accidentally murdered a few of the night guards?" She asked, her tone carefully blank. Mike finally raised his head, watching the foxes face the lights behind his eyes flickered.

"That-that was no accident lass. Know-knowingly or not, we mur-murdered them for our game," His voice came out quiet, almost like a whisper, stuttering the words as if he were malfunctioning. While Mike was wrapped up in the meaning of the words, Morganna was interested in the way the animatronic's emotions manifested themselves. They couldn't cry or generally sound very upset, so their vocals glitched.

"Foxy, first off you aren't human," she started out bluntly, receiving a glare from Mike and a blank far off look from the animatronic.

"Morganna!"

"Hey, hey. Trust me, I'm going somewhere with this. So yeah, Foxy, you aren't human. You started out as lines of code, programmed responses. Somewhere along the line you developed personalities of your own, but that previous code doesn't just disappear. Things you were programmed to do or obey have to be carried out. If you were programmed to see humans after hours as endoskeletons, well then that isn't your fault," she explained, trying to talk some sense to the robot.

"But the game-"

"So what you made a game of it, adults make games of their jobs too sometimes," she said gently, biting her lip. She wasn't sure if she was getting through to him.

"Foxy, like I said you aren't the monsters. The ones that knew this was happening and didn't stop it, they are the monsters," Mike finally spoke up, looking up at the fox. "Come on Foxy, if I can forgive you guys for scaring me so badly, can you at least start to forgive yourselves?"

Silence overtook the trio again, only Bonnie's guitars soft notes floating through the air. Foxy took a step forward, looking directly in his eyes instead of through him or to the side like he'd been.

"I- you're really starting ta forgive us lad?" He questioned, his voice hopeful. Mike stood up, reaching out towards his friend as he nodded.

"I can't forget Foxy, but you guys didn't mean for any of this to happen. The first step to forgiving you for me is interacting with you guys, getting to know you all over again. For you to forgive yourselves, well I think the first step has been made, you realised what you've done wrong. You know now, and you feel remorse," he said softly, pointing out what he knew to be true based on their reactions. "Now you just have to let go of those sad feelings. Don't forget what happened, but don't dwell on them."

"I- I can try lad. For you," Foxy finally said, stepping forward to embrace the night guard. Mike flinched from the suddenness of the movement, Foxy went to move away, a sad look on his face that only Morganna could see. Before he could Mike wrapped his arms around the pirate, returning the hug.

"That's all I want Foxy. We can get through this, all of us together," He said, resting his head on the animatronics' shoulder for a moment before finally pulling away and smiling up at the fox.

"Aye. If you have some faith in us Mikey, then this ol' pirate can spare some too," the fox said with a grin.

"Alright then, so we need to try to get through to the others then," Mike said, looking towards Bonnie who had retreated to the stage and was still caught up in strumming sad notes on his guitar.

"Wait Mikey. It's already half past three, we don't have much time and we don't want to let things lie like this, now do we? So how about we split up? You go talk some sense into Bonnie and I'll go to Chica," she suggested.

"Aye, the lass be right. There's not much time left in the night," Foxy agreed with a nod of his head. "You two be talking to those two and I'll go see if I can talk any sense to Freddy."

"That's probably not a bad idea. But you sure you want to talk to Chica?" Mike asked, a concerned look on his face. He wasn't sure if she could comfort the chicken, since in the past they'd never gotten along very well.

"Hey, don't doubt me. I can do this Mikey, now off with you Princess," she said, making a shooing motion as she stood up. "If you sing I'm sure that Bonnie's sadness will just melt away," She joked, a strained smile on her face as she walked away. She didn't stay to hear his sputtered reply, instead heading towards the kitchen, hoping that she hadn't lied and truly could help Chica out. Morganna poked fun at the chicken animatronic the most, they seemingly didn't get along at all, but in truth she rather liked Chica. She most certainly didn't want Chica to feel so bad, so she would do her best to help, she just hoped it was enough.

* * *

**AN :: Another early update for everyone! I've been on a roll with writing this story lately. I'm not sure any of you are going to be able to guess where I'll be taking this, but I really do hope you'll enjoy the ride to the end. I did want to say that this story is most certainly not canon compliant if you haven't guessed already. I don't want to spoil anything else yet though, so you'll just have to wait and see what I mean by that. Anyway, thanks so much for reading! Next chapter will be out in a few days! I'd say thank gods it's friday, but unfortunately I work all weekend. u.u So I'll say look forward to Monday for the next update! Feel free to shoot any comments/concerns/questions you have to me in a review or PM. As always I hope the rest of your day/night is wonderful!**


	11. The End of a Long Night

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

After Morganna walked out of the party room and through the swinging door of the kitchen, she was met with the sight of Chica kneading dough in a lethargic manner, more like just moving it around rather than actually kneading it.

"Go away," the chicken said, vocals coming out with a static cracking still.

"Hey Chica I-" Morganna began, before finding herself cut off.

"I said go away," Chica said again, though she had gone still, unmoving where she stood. Morganna sighed but did not leave, instead she walked to the other, putting her hand on the robot's shoulder.

"I said-" Chica started, whipping around in a manner that made Morganna step back suddenly only to slip because of the flour covered floor.

"Ohmph," was the only noise that she could make as she crashed down to the floor on her rump. She let out a low groan of pain, stunned by the fall for a moment.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry-" Chica began, her face lowering in guilt as she offered the woman a feathered hand, pulling her up easily. Morganna paused for a moment, patting her rump with a grimace at both the slight pain she felt as well as the fact that black pants were now saturated with flour.

"That's going to smart for a few days," she muttered to herself quietly before shaking her head. "It's alright though, accidents happens and gods know that I'm not the most graceful person. But besides that, we need to talk Chica."

"I don't want to talk," Chica said petulantly, turning away again.

"Well too bad, because I'm not leaving," she replied. She stood there a moment without speaking, the chicken clearly trying to ignore her. Pursing her lips she look at the counter and moved some of the equipment from where it sat and hoisted herself up onto the counter next to where the animatronic was working.

"That's- get off of the counter Morg," Chica said sternly, clearly using her nickname on purpose. The woman narrowed her eyes at the chicken and didn't budge.

"Seriously Morganna, get off of the counter! It's unhygienic to sit there!" The chicken exclaimed, getting more upset with each sentence.

"I will not move until you talk to me Miss Duck," Morganna said, sticking her nose up in the air.

"I'm not a- ugh, fine! Just get off of the counter!" The chicken finally acquiesced, sighing in defeat.

"Good, now tell me what's running through that chicken brain of yours," she responded, moving off of the counter carefully so she didn't slip in the flour again.

"I- there isn't much to say," Chica began with a shrug, not sure where to begin.

"I think that's a lie, you clearly have a lot going on in that processor of yours. So how about starting with how you feel?" Morganna prodded the chicken.

"I- How could we not have realised what we were doing? We always thought it was weird that none of the endoskeletons ever worked and yet we never questioned why," the animatronic finally said after silence had settled between the two again.

"Chica, mistakes happen. I for one have no idea how you guys became truly sentient, but that feeling you have? That sadness and guilt, that's an emotional response, robots aren't supposed to have emotions, aren't supposed to feel at all," Morganna began, trailing off for a moment.

"But then why do I feel this! It hurts and I can't even cry," Chica cried out, her vocals stuttering and cracking with each word. "All that happens is a malfunction with my voice box."

"Well you weren't programmed or created with the intention that you could cry. I can't imagine why that would ever be conceived, but that's beside the point. They probably never thought that you'd feel to the depths that you do. But what comes with feeling and choice is the ability to make mistakes. It never even occurred to you that the endoskeletons could possibly be human did it?" Morganna asked quietly, receiving a slow shake of the head from the other.

"No I if we had, we wouldn't-" Chica's voice couldn't stop crackling.

"Exactly, you wouldn't have hurt anyone had you known. Like Mikey said, management knew what was going on and didn't try to stop it, you couldn't have known. You made a mistake yes, but that doesn't make you a bad person. That's what you are by the way, a person; you aren't human obviously, but you are a person just the same, who thinks and feels and makes mistakes," her voice was soft, but passionate as she spoke. "I… I'm not the nicest or most empathetic person Chica, you always knew that, but even I can see how much you're beating yourself up over this. Me and Mikey, we always loved you guys, all of you and neither of us can stand seeing you guys like this."

"Oh Morganna," Chica let out another wail, pulling the woman into a bone crushing hug that made her grunt.

"Can't. Breathe. Chica." She managed to gasp out.

"Oh! Sorry!" The animatronic loosened her grip, but didn't let go for another few moments. "So- you don't dislike me? You always insisted on calling me a duck."

"Chica, I'm saying this once and only once. I love you and your ridiculous chicken ducky-ness. I only poke fun of those I like. If I didn't like you I wouldn't talk to you," The brunette finally said, flipping her hair over shoulder trying to appear nonchalant about what she said. She let out a squeak when she was enveloped into another tight hug.

"I love you too Morganna!" Chica exclaimed. "Even if you're prickly."

"Alright, good. We love each other, now that's enough hugging for one night," Morganna said quickly as she pried herself out of the embrace.

"Where is Michael? He didn't leave did he?" The chicken asked looking thoughtful.

"Of course not. He'd never leave with you guys feeling like this. He's talking to Bonnie, hopefully he's nearly done. Cause we still need to talk to Freddy and hopefully form some kind of plan to save you guys," she said with a frown as she turned to look at the clock, they were running out of time.

"You- you're really going to help us?" Chica asked, her voice sounding emotional again.

"Of course," Morganna said simply before taking a quick back step. "No more hugging though, I'm serious. Now come on."

With that the two left the kitchen going towards the stage again.

* * *

Bonnie was on stage, hunched over on the floor, still strumming his guitar sadly when Mike walked over to him. Mike had expected Bonnie to be a bit more tight lipped, since Bonnie had rarely talked about his problems to either twin back when they were children. He was surprised by the bunny when he turned and started talking to him as soon as he approached.

"How- How can you stand to even look at us Mike?" The purple rabbit asked, his voice sounding strangled and quiet.

"Bonnie, nothing that happened was your fault I-" He was cut off as the rabbit started speaking.

"I was trying to get you at all costs Mike. I- I didn't even care when Foxy tried to explain everything. I just wanted to win our bet, even though we didn't even bet anything. I just wanted to – I don't even know. How could I have been so blind, how could we all have been? We deserve to be dismantled- no even that is kind. We deserve to be forgotten and rot away," Bonnie started out quietly, each word becoming louder than the next until his voice started cracking.

Mike didn't say anything as he sat down beside the bunny, slumping against him. He was sure that Bonnie would be crying if he'd been human. As it was there was just a crackling sound of static and a slight tremble to the animatronics' limbs. Finally after a few minutes the animatronic shifted, turning his head towards the human, purple eyes staring down at him.

"How can you stand to be this close to me? I know I scared you more than the others," he asked quietly.

"Well, I let Morganna near me, even though she's scared me to a near heart attack, many, many times," he joked. The animatronic let out a strained chuckle that surprised him, but he was happy to hear it. Hopefully it meant that Bonnie could be reasoned with and brought out of his depressed state.

"That's true. She always did love to discuss the scares she had planned for you," Bonnie started out before his tone turned dark again. "But this was- this was different. I would have stuffed you in one of those suits- I would have killed you. It wasn't just about frightening you."

"Bonnie, you were doing what you thought you had to. I- yeah I was frightened, but you didn't even know what you were doing was a mistake. I know that if you had known, then you wouldn't have hurt anyone," the human said with a shake of his head.

"I-I guess you're right," Bonnie said, though clearly he was just saying it to appease Mike. Said man shook his head.

"Bonnie. I am telling you the absolute truth. Yes you did wrong, but that is in the past. What you have to do now is forgive yourself and live life. If you just give up- then those deaths were for naught. You're alive, so live," Mike struggled with what to say to the rabbit as the other continued to just shut down and say what he wanted to hear.

"M-Mikey, I-I," Bonnie stuttered out, falling silent once more.

"I've already forgiven you guys Bonnie. I can't forget what happened, but I can forgive you for it, so please try to move past this, for me?" Mike finally said after the silence had become too much. "You make so many children happy and we aren't going to let them just shut this place down without a fight, but that doesn't mean anything if you won't try to forgive yourself."

"I-I will try, for you and the children," Bonnie finally said, this time sounding like he meant it He put down his guitar and pulled the guard into a hug. "Thanks Mikey, for not letting me forget myself."

"We're practically family Bonnie. No way I'd let you wallow in sadness," he replied with a choked laugh that only just didn't become a sob.

"Family?" Bonnie asked, his voice strained again. "But we- we aren't related. We're machines. We can't have family."

Mike shook his head, his arms tightening around the bunny as he swallowed. He remained silent for a moment, thinking about what he could tell Bonnie before he spoke, not wanting to flounder with what needed said.

"Bonnie, you may be an animatronic, but you are more than that. Family doesn't have to be just who you're related to, it can include close friends, people you care about. Whether you guys like it or not, you guys are family to me and Morg. We've always loved you, even when we doubted that you could possibly love us back. The feelings you've felt tonight, the hurt and anger? That just proves that you aren't just an animatronic. Maybe you don't think of us as family, but we will always believe the opposite," he finally spoke, making sure to get his point across clearly even when his voice choked up with the emotions he wanted to convey.

"I- You are our family then. I can't speak for the others I guess, but to me you and Morg are family too then," Bonnie finally choked out, squeezing the breath out of Mike before loosening up when he realised he was hugging the human too tightly.

"Thanks for staying with us, for coming back to us," Bonnie said after a while as he let Mike go from their extended hug. The rabbit couldn't believe how much lighter he felt as the conversation came to a close.

"It was no trouble. Like I said, we are family," Mike said with a smile.

"Michael, Bonnie! Have you guys finished talking as well?" Chica spoke as she climbed up onto the stage with Morganna at her side.

"Yeah, just finished," Bonnie answered, his voice sounding a little raw but otherwise alright.

"Knew you could do it Princess," Morganna said with a wink to her brother, offering him a hand as both human and animatronic went to stand up.

"Ohhoho, Morg you got a new nickname for him now? Should I use it too?" Bonnie joked, chuckling at the glare Mike tossed back to him.

"Yeah I got a new nickname for him Bon-Bon, but I'm afraid it's for my use only," she said, putting her hand on her hip dramatically and sending her own glare to the rabbit.

"Hey! Don't call me Bon-Bon!" Bonnie exclaimed with a glare of his own.

"Then don't call me Morg," Morganna stepped towards him before speaking, leaning forward to poke into his chest fur with every word, green eyes meeting purple ones in a constant heated glare. Another moment found the two laughing almost hysterically, Morganna leaning into the bunny and slapping his arm playfully.

"Ah- I've forgotten how much I missed you Bonnie!" She exclaimed, wiping a bit of moisture that had gathered at the corner of her eyes.

"I miss you too Miss Morganna," the rabbit said softly after their laughter subsided. He grinned a bit, "I'm sure that we'll be able to cause some major trouble now that you're older."

"Of course my dear rabbit," She replied with a wink.

"Guys, it's all well and good that you're friendly again now, but we've only got an hour left in the night, so we better go see how Foxy's doing with Freddy," Mike brought up, pointing at the clock that read five in the morning.

"Alright, the lead the way brother," she replied and with that all headed to the backstage area where they assumed Freddy would still be.

* * *

Freddy was beyond angry and he couldn't stop pacing. He regretted that the others found out about their involvement in the murders of some of the previous night guards, regretted his inaction. He- he was the only one that remembered though, the only one who remembered Fredbear's and the tragedy that happened there.

He didn't like to think about it, feel the emotions that weren't his wash over him, the sadness and pain. No, if he didn't think about it then it couldn't bother him. If he was truthful he always had doubts about the endoskeletons, ever since they'd appeared. He ignored those first doubts though and did what their programming compelled them to do, stuff the naked endoskeletons into suits.

For years he ignored the little voice in his mainframe that said there was something wrong. He didn't feel the sadness or pain if he followed his programming without thought, so that's what he did. They stuffed endo after endo into suits if they stuck around, if they left then another came to replace them, it had become an never ending cycle.

When more doubts began to surface he continued to ignore them, not thinking about the consequences to his actions. He hadn't even begun to think about how the others would react if his doubts were indeed well founded. He was- he was the leader, the father-figure that the others turned to, and he'd let them all down.

He angrily threw a few of the spare costume heads at the back wall. Did management throw out the suits that they stuffed the guards into, or did they just clean them? The thought made him growl, they probably kept them, being so interested in their profit margin. It was clear they didn't care about those who lost their lives, or pizzeria itself. They had let the place fall into disrepair; the dirt alone should have been enough to shut them down years early.

Busy caught up in his angry and bitter thoughts he didn't notice the door open. Foxy stood in the doorway for a moment, watching his friend throw the spare suit heads some more.

"Freddy, what are ye doin'?" The fox asked, staying near the door way still for the moment, sensing that Freddy needed his space still.

"Foxy? H-How are the others?" Freddy asked, facing away from the fox, attempting to keep his voice calm. He stopped his pacing by the table, staring down at the spare endoskeleton sitting on it. Why had they never tried to stuff this endo into a costume? He actually had no answer for it.

"The twins be talking to them. They've truly become right adults, but they are still me little mateys. They didn't change all that much, but they're very good with words. They be right in saying that we aren't the monsters here," Foxy said quietly, stepping into the room.

"No- you guys are not monsters," Freddy agreed. _'I am. I did nothing to stop us,'_ he thought to himself sadly. "Management however is full of monsters. They- how can they do this to us?"

"I don't know matey," Foxy replied, unable to think about what he should say next.

"Foxy, you don't- you don't remember Fredbear's Family Diner, do you?" Freddy asked after a few moments. His face was still looking away from the fox.

"Can't say I remember it well Freddy, it be so long since they closed the old restaurant and moved us here. Why?" Foxy asked, perplexed by the question.

"I remember they were going to shut us down entirely, not reopen. Yet here we are, maybe there is hope that they'll reopen again. If not then- perhaps it is time we rest," Freddy responded. He didn't expect Foxy to have remembered much about the old pizzeria. No- bringing that incident up wouldn't help them now, it could only cause more pain.

"Freddy? Foxy? You guys still back here?" Mike's voice came from the hallway. He cautiously took a step into the room, obvious ill at ease in the room that they used to stuff the guards into suits.

"Michael, you don't have to come in here," Freddy began, concerned for the young man when his face got extremely pale. "We'll be out in the party room in just a moment."

"No- I mean, I should take a look back here anyway," Mike replied stepping forward, the other animatronics and his sister lingering behind him with concerned looks of their own.

He went to walk over to Freddy, but paused when something in the corner caught his eye, a Golden Freddy suit. Eyes wide he walked backwards, colliding with shelves as he shook. His whole body started shaking violently and his breath came out in shallow little gasps.

"Michael? Are you alright Michael?" Chica was the first to reach out towards the boy, surprised when the boy practically threw himself to the floor to get away from her. His feet scrambled on the tiles as he pushed himself into a small corner of the room. That's when he started speaking, babbling something that didn't make sense.

Morganna crept forward, staying silent and reaching out towards him only to receive the same flinch as he pushed himself away, covering his face.

"Mike? Mikey, what's wrong? Talk to me!" She demanded, fear showing in her eyes as he remained despondent to her pleas. Confused and concerned she walked over towards the suit, wondering what about it scared Mikey so much. The animatronics watched him, unsure what to do. Foxy was the first to do anything, moving to his knees and whispering to the man comforting words, holding out a hand to grab when he needed it like he had previously that night.

Hesitantly Morganna took the head of the animatronic and pulled it up, gagging at the smell that wafted from it. Looking inside it though, there was nothing to suggest why there was such a smell. She inspected it, confused, only coming out of her thought with a jump, not having realised that Freddy had walked over to her.

"That-that was Goldie's suit. The restaurant was once located elsewhere and it was named-"

"Fredbear's?" She asked, though she already knew that was the only possibility.

"How did you know that name?" Freddy asked, his voice was almost scary sounding with the harshness of the question.

"I was reading up on Freddy's before we knew that you really didn't know Mikey was human. There were some articles about Fredbear's Family Diner, about what happened there," she said, uneasy all of a sudden.

"Don't- don't speak of it. That was- we don't speak of it. Goldie he- he was ripped apart after they closed down the restaurant. I don't know why, but they kept his suit," he told her, looking at the suit with sadness. It wasn't Goldie's fault, what had happened.

"I'm sorry Freddy. Wait- what? Why- why is this here?" Morganna stuttered out. She had stood again to pear into the empty suit, inside she could see fabric. Reaching in she winced at the wires that poked and scratched at her hand and wrist, but managed to grab a handful of fabric. Pulling it out was a little difficult, but she managed, only light cuts on her wrist and hand. She felt like she was sucker punched in the stomach when she realised what she had in front of him.

In her hand was an old backpack, faded by age and stained a dark brown in some places, a terrible smell coming from it like the suit's head. With shaking hands she opened it, gagging when she saw some of its contents, small bones, whole finger nails, small bloodied teeth, and tuffs of hair; all were stored in clear bags. There were some papers in there as well, but she couldn't see in the room very well, not to mention the fact that she was going to be sick.

As quickly as she could she ran out of the room, ignoring the shouts after her. Making it to the hallway trash can she finally threw up. She winced at the acidic feel of vomit coming up her throat and the burning of tears she could feel running down her face. Finally she pulled back, shakily wiping her mouth on an equally shaky hand.

"Morganna? Are you alright?" Freddy had followed her, telling the others to see if they could coax Mike back to the party room.

"No, that- that backpack was Mike's! One of the two we lost here as children. The contents- oh god, I'm going to be sick," she managed to get out rapidly before turning back to the trash can and vomiting again. She couldn't even manage to get her hair back, some of her sick getting into it.

Sinking down where she was, her shaking legs unable to support her any longer, she cried. She wailed, tears pouring down her cheeks in black rivers, mascara mixing with her tears. Her shoulders shook almost violently as she broke down.

"Morganna, everything will be alright, you just need to calm down," Freddy tried, kneeling down in front of her, unsure as to what he could do to comfort the young woman. He didn't understand what was so wrong, what had made her act like this?

"Its-Its not! That shouldn't be there, not- Foxy bit that man! He should be dead, or at least brain dead, he was- only he could have gotten the backpack. It wouldn't be here so long after unless- unless he's alive and still- who was he? Where is he? What do we do? We can't-" Morganna babbled, not making much sense to the bear. Other than mentioning something about the man Foxy bit, he didn't know what she was talking about.

After another few moments the woman had thrown herself into the bear's arms, crying hysterically. It took another full ten minutes before she'd calmed down enough to stop crying so much. She sniffled, wiping away tears and feeling thoroughly terrible. She bit her lip, unsure what she should say. There was just too much to discuss and it was sure to be close to six.

"We-we better get to the others. There probably isn't much time left in the night," she managed to get out, stuttering and her voice raspy.

Walking back to party room they found the others all sitting together, using the stage to rest on. Mikey sat between Foxy and Chica, both holding the man's hand as he took deep breathes. He opened his eyes, looking at his sister and seeing the tear trails on her cheeks, the smudged black trails doing nothing to hide her own break down. She shook his head, signalling that she didn't want to talk about it.

Looking at the clock she noticed it was about ten till six, and she had to leave before Mike did to avoid the day manager. She bit her lip, there wasn't any time left.

"Freddy, can you put that backpack back into that suit. I- we'll need to look through it more thoroughly tomorrow night. We'll discuss our plan to save you guys then too. We won't let them destroy you, you are our family," she said managed to get out, her voice strained still.

The bear nodded, as did the others. They didn't want to go down without a fight any more, not after reconciling with the twins and realising what they did now. Something was wrong as well; they couldn't let the situation lie.

"Mike- I'm going back to my apartment tonight, can you come over? I want to sleep in my own bed tonight," she said tiredly, satisfied when she received a shaky nod from her brother. With that she left, not looking back. She couldn't help but regret going into that backroom at all.

* * *

**AN :: Here is todays chapter everyone! I was redoing an outline for this story, so I know when certain events are going to take place and all that, and I've discovered that this story has gained a life of it's own and its all thanks to you guys. This story is already twice the length it was originally supposed to be and redoing my outline I can tell you guys now that there is at least another ten chapters planned out. You might've noticed that the genre of this story has changed a little. I changed the romance tag to mystery because of where the story is going. Romance is taking a back burner to the plot presently, but not to worry, it will happen eventually! All of your support has really motivated me to be creative and go with some of the crazy ideas my mind as cooked up plotwise. So thank you so much everyone! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and will continue enjoying this story. As always any comments, concerns, or questions are welcome via review or PM! Thanks so much again everyone, and as always have a wonderful day or night! n.n**


	12. Difficult Morning Conversations

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

Coming back to himself was difficult, it was like his brain just lost connection to the rest of his body as panic took control of him again. He couldn't believe how many panic attacks he'd had lately, especially considering that the last one he'd had was almost six months before. He had thought he was getting better, that the medicines and occasional therapy session was helping.

Sure he'd been through some stressful situations, but still- two panic attacks in one night? Morganna tried to reach out to him, but he reacted the same he had to the others. Vaguely he could hear her high heeled boots click on tiles, walking towards something. He wanted to tell her not to go near it, but could only make a strangled choking noise as more panic overtook him. Finally after a few minutes the feeling was beginning to subside, but only a small bit.

He could barely hear the others, talking quietly around him while they coaxed his body from the corner, guiding him out of the room. As soon as he left the room he could feel himself breathe easier. The overwhelming emotions left his mind quickly, making him dizzy. Lightheaded he stumbled, pulled up by the captain gently like he had earlier.

He could barely think over the rushing of noise in his ear, but he could feel an immense gratefulness for the fox who had helped him so much that night. Sure the fox had some experience with the attacks, since he had them as children, but it meant a lot to him to know that Foxy remembered how to deal with them twelve years later.

He knew that they were sitting him down, propping him up against the stage, but he still couldn't see very well. Colours swarmed before him, darkness weaving in and out of his vision. As he regained more control of himself he swallowed thickly, unable to bring himself to speak about why he had freaked out so badly. He'd sound crazy, it was clear that the golden suit hadn't been used in many years, it didn't even have an endoskeleton in it, how could it have possibly ended up in the security office?

Was he going crazy? He sluggishly brought his hands up to his face, pushing his palms against his eyes. His breath hitched a few times before he managed to get his breathing back under control, thankful for how the others kept speaking to him, giving him something to focus on rather than falling back into the thoughts that made him panic in the first place.

Finally after a while Freddy and Morganna returned to the party room. He looked up at his sister, surprised to see black trails of mascara on her cheeks, her eyes still puffy. What had happened to her? That she'd been crying was unusual, she had an unhealthy habit of stuffing down her emotions and pushing away sadness rather than letting it run its course.

"Freddy, can you put that backpack back into that suit. I- we'll need to look through it more thoroughly tomorrow night. We'll discuss our plan to save you guys then too. We won't let them destroy you, you are our family," when she spoke he knew something was very wrong. What was she talking about, a backpack in the- in that suit? He felt confused, but was so exhausted he could barely think about it at that moment.

"Mike- I'm going back to my apartment tonight, can you come over? I want to sleep in my own bed tonight," she said. He couldn't believe how tired and strained her voice was, she had only sounded this undone once in their lives that he could recall. Whatever happened was not good, definitely not good at all. He nodded regardless.

"Yeah, I'll be over after I stop at my place," he managed to get out before she walked away, heels clicking on the ground echoing in the quiet restaurant. She didn't look back, he was unsure if she even heard him. He could only hope she'd get home alright in the state she was in.

Pulling himself up and into a crouch, he stood on shaky legs again. Lightheaded and feeling all around sick he stumbled again, Foxy at his side almost immediately. Freddy was quiet, but looked concerned, as did Bonnie and Chica.

"Are you sure you're alright Michael? I'm still confused, but you clearly aren't feeling well. Are you sure you should be driving in such a condition?" Chica asked quietly, wringing her feathered fingers together in nervousness.

"Y-Yeah. I can't stick around, since the day manager will be here any second. You guys have to get back on stage too. I'll be alright," he gave them a strained smile, hopefully reassuring them. It was clear that not one of the believed him, but they knew his words to be true. So with a nod they headed off onto the stage.

Foxy didn't let go of Mike, instead he helped him silently to the office to retrieve his bag. He didn't leave right away, staying near the young man and watching him in concern.

"Are ye sure you're okay to get home lad? Mikey, ye aren't exactly in the best state right now," Foxy pointed out, his voice saturated in concern, though no one, least of all Mike, would be able to blame him, not after helping the man through two panic attacks in the same night. No, the pirate was very concerned, and with right reason. Both of his grown up first mates were in terrible states, and he didn't know what to do. He didn't even know what happened, so how could he begin to fix it?

Mike sniffed, turning around to face the animatronic. With another sniffle, holding back tears again, he practically launched himself into the red fox's arms, bag falling to the floor. Foxy returned the embrace, patting the man on the head.

"I'll be alright, and I'll be even better when we actually discuss how we're going to save you guys tomorrow," he said into red fur, pulling away after another moment. "Thanks Foxy, you should probably get back to pirates cove."

"Aye, just be careful lad. Come back to us in one piece," the captain said, watching the man grab his bag again.

"I promise Captain. Morg and I will be back tomorrow safe and sound," he promised as they both walked out of the room, saying goodbye when one reached their destination.

He watched the manager cross the parking lot for the fourth time that week. The woman wasn't surprised this time as he opened the door. She went to say something, but Mike wasn't having it that morning and instead he brushed by her, leaving in a hurry. He wasn't about to trust any of the management, and he really didn't want to speak to any of them. Clearly they knew what they'd been doing, sending people to their deaths.

He pushed the thoughts from his head as he walked to his car, opening the door and climbing in. Letting out a breath he started it up and pulled out of the parking lot, heading towards his apartment complex. It wasn't long before he was stepping up stairs and opening his door. He didn't waste time, grabbing an old gym bag and throwing pyjamas and a change of clothes into it.

Throwing the bag onto his couch he paused, realising that Morganna had left her stuff there. With a sigh he packed it all up and placed her bag next to his. Going into the kitchen he went into the refrigerator and pulled out the pizza they'd forgotten about. Returning back to the main area of his apartment he slung the bags onto his person and maneuverer himself around the door, only just managing to close it with all he was carrying. Returning to his car, he packed it up, and headed to the better part of town.

After about an hour, he found himself outside of her door, kicking at it since he didn't have any hands free. After a minute the door clicked open, Morganna's tired face meeting him. Stepping back she let him in, taking the pizza box from him and moving into her kitchen.

He set his bag down onto a dark purple couch, raising his eyebrow. The couch was new, looking around the apartment he noticed that most of the furniture was new too- and was that real mahogany? For the months they'd been apart she must have redecorated, upgraded to better furniture.

A few pictures were sitting out on a nearby entryway table, a very new addition to the room as far as he knew. He walked over to it, smiling a bit when he saw the old family pictures. His smile turned a bit sad when he saw a picture of their mother in her hospital gown. It was one of the last ones taken of the woman before her health deteriorated even more. He moved to the other photos, some of them and their fathers, one of them laughing and hanging from a tree. Each photo brought about memories that made him sigh or laugh a little.

He jumped when Morganna's hand touched his shoulder, settling there as she looked down at the pictures as well. She looked at him giving him a tired smile.

"Getting all nostalgic Mikey?" She asked, her voice still raspy sounding, but playful. That was a good sign at least. He still didn't know why she'd been crying, and he wasn't sure if he should bring it up.

"A little, I think I like this photo most," he said, pointing to one of them with their mother at the hospital again. Morganna had a shit eating grin on her face, along with a black eye and bruised cheek. He too had a wide smile, as well as a bruise on his forhead. Their mother had been less than happy with them, but a small smile graced her face too.

"Why that one Mikey?" She asked, laughing a little when she remembered the memory associated with it.

"'Cause that's when I realised that I didn't have to take things lying down, and if you found out I was you'd get into a fight because of it," he replied, laughing a small bit. He was a push over as a child, still was though much less now. He was a bully's wet dream, taking everything and not even going to an authority figure. Morganna was more aggressive, she didn't take anything from anyone and she taught her brother to at least protect himself when he really didn't want to do something.

"Hey, I won that fight. Even though that kid was bigger than me, I knocked him down a few pegs," she mentioned, letting her hand fall from his shoulder and bumping hers into it.

"I'm not complaining. I'd probably have done a crap ton of homework for others in high school if you didn't get me out of the habit of just doing what others wanted," he said bumping his shoulder back into hers playfully.

"Good. Anyway, I popped the pizza into the oven. You can go get set up in the guest bedroom while it's heating up again," she said walking over to the couch and plopping down next to the bags he'd placed there.

"Okay. By the way I like the new décor. Is that actually mahogany?" He asked tapping the couch side table.

"Of course! I want the best brother. I've taken a few high paying jobs, so I decided to treat myself. I'd take care of your debt too if you'd let me," she mentioned in an annoyed tone.

"And I don't want you to. I'll take care of it Morg. Once we get all of this cleared up I swear I'll come to you before a loan shark again though," he said, shaking his head as she groaned at his stubbornness. She didn't understand that he wanted to be independent, wanted to figure out what he wanted to do with his life in the process maybe. Regardless he wasn't letting her just bail him out unless it was a last resort, and even if it came to that he would pay her back.

He grabbed his bag off of the couch and retreated to the spare bedroom, putting it onto the bed with a sigh. Sitting down, he sighed and began thinking. Should he bring up the incident? They did need to talk about it, both of their incidents needed talking about. Plus the whole save Freddy's plan that needed forming.

He sat there lost in thought for a few minute before hearing the oven timer go off. He let out a deep breath as he pushed himself to his feet and walked to the kitchen. Getting up had taken effort, he hadn't realised how exhausted he was until that moment.

Walking into the kitchen he sat down at the table, wondering if he'd be able to get up again. He was hungry, but tired, though he knew he had to stick it out for the moment. They needed to talk. Morganna put a plate of pizza in front of him before taking her seat and immediately taking a bit.

"Oh- oh holy hell. I forgot how good Chica's pizzas are. How the hell does she make them this good? Maybe I should be nicer to her, just to get pizzas. Then I might get fat, oh what the hell do I care this is good," she practically moaned out. While yes, Mike was sure she was enjoying the pizza thoroughly he sure, she also was using it as a diversion tactic. Start a conversation about something sort of relevant to avoid another conversation.

He sighed and took a bite of his own pizza, smiling at the taste. It really was good pizza, the kind that was good because actual care went into making it, or at least that's what he liked to believe.

"Morg we really do have to talk," he started out, taking another bite with a sigh.

"Yeah, I guess. I-I really don't want to Mikey," she said, biting her lip. That had her brother surprised, for her to outright say she didn't want to talk about something with her emotions so blatant on her face, well that was something that didn't happen often at all.

"How about I go first, about why I had a panic attack?" He asked, hoping that he could get the ball rolling.

"Fine. What was up with that Mikey?" She asked, curiosity and concern evident in her voice. It had been strange, seeing him have a panic attack again after so long. He hadn't even reacted to her, so it must have been a bad one too.

"That night that I passed out, the animatronic I thought had gotten into the room was that golden suit. It was slouched down in the room, unmoving, but it wouldn't go away and I kept seeing things and I-" he sped up as he spoke, only stopping when her hand reached across the table to settle on his arm. The connection made him stop and breathe in and out again. "I lost it, seeing it again just brought back those hallucinations and I've never had those before. It was frightening."

"I- your old backpack was inside that suit Mikey," she said as soon as he was finished, unable to hold the words back. She did, however, not mention what she'd found in it. She had to be mistaken, there was no way that stuff was in there, the backpack was believable though, considering that she dropped both there in that room all those years ago.

"What?" Mike was speechless, how could his backpack end up in that suit, not to mention the fact that meant hers was missing for some reason.

"I-I remembered that day and I just- I freaked out," she said with a sigh. "I've been reliving that memory more and more lately. In and out of my nightmares and it just won't leave me alone. But that man should be gone, Foxy bite him in the head. I remember the feel of his blood splattering on my face like it was yesterday."

"Morganna," Mike trailed off, slightly disturbed by the dark look on his sisters face as her frown turned to a smile before she continued speaking.

"I didn't think I'd ever be happy about someone getting hurt as much as I was when Foxy bit into that man's head. Even then I was relieved, though I knew it was wrong. I actually relish the memory of seeing his skull split opened and the feeling of his blood splattering onto my cheek," she let out a twisted laugh. "I'm sick Mikey. I'm clinging to sick twisted thoughts just to avoid thinking about the idea that he might be alive out there. Not knowing what he would have done to us just- it just makes the terror in me grow. It just-grows and grows and grows, like it's trying to devour me."

She laughed again, though tears started falling down her face again. Her hands clenched into tight fists, fingernails digging into her palms. Mike could only watch in horror as she broke down, hysterically laughing for a minute before turning into sobs. Her hands suddenly unclenched and flew to her face, nails digging into her head as she clutched at it. Her nails pierced her skin, blood running down the side of her temple.

Mike didn't realise that tears were falling down his face until he finally sprang into action at the sight of Morganna hurting herself enough to draw blood. He stood shakily and moved around the table, grabbing her hands and forcing them away from her face. She stopped sobbing, stopped moving altogether and looked up at him blankly.

"Morg? Are you alright Morg? I don't know what to do," he said, only just holding back sobs of his own.

"I- No. I'm not okay. I'm scared Mikey," she said quietly, her eyes downcast as she spoke. Her arms went limp and carefully Mike let go of her wrists. "I'm sorry. I try to be strong, for you, but I'm so freaked out Mikey."

"You don't have to be strong for me. We're both adults, and I- I need to learn to take care of you sometimes. We'll get through this together, like we always have," he replied, kneeling down in front of her and grabbing one of her hands. He squeezed her hand to give her some bit of reassurance before he began speaking again. "We'll save Freddy's and then we'll figure out everything that we've been missing. Mysteries are meant to be solved, right?"

"I- but what if the answer isn't the one we want?" She asked, swallowing thickly, eyes teary as her green met his blue.

"Then we deal with it together. Whatever happened at Freddy's, it most certainly wasn't good. But- I think we need to figure it out once and for all," Mike said with a nod.

"There is- there is some stuff I know, but I'm going to fall over if we talk anymore tonight," she said after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best. Do you need help getting to bed? You look like you wouldn't even make it to your bed," he said, concerned at the swaying of her body as if holding herself up was difficult.

"I guess," she reluctantly said before biting her lip and looking indecisive before speaking again. "Will you come and sleep with me?"

"Ew. Morg that's gross, we're siblings," he said playfully, smiling at her half-hearted glare, knowing she was too tired to do much else.

"Ugh, you know what I mean asshole. Now you get to carry me to bed," she replied with a smirk.

"I was probably going to have to do that anyway Morg," he shot back, picking her up bridal style and carrying her out of the kitchen and into her bedroom. Setting her on the bed he went to leave the room, needing to change into his own pyjamas.

"Mikey, you're coming back right? Like right back?" She asked, her voice sounding small.

"I'm just going to change. It'll only take a minute," he said reassuring her and walking out of the room. A few steps later found him in the guest room rummaging through his bag for pyjamas. Pulling them on he went to the hallway bathroom, doing his business and quickly brushing his teeth. Then he returned to her room, all in all it had only taken about ten minutes.

She had moved, doing her nightly routine in a fraction of the time since she was already dressed and cleaned off her makeup before he'd gotten there. Curled up under the comforter she watched the door until he made his way into the room. Climbing into the bed he settled himself. Once he was settled she reached over to the bedside lamp and darkness engulfed the room.

"Thanks Mikey. I don't think I'd be able to sleep alone after the night we've had," she said, her words muffled since she buried her head into her pillow.

"Me neither," he said quietly, letting out a sigh. "Good night Morg. Love you."

"Love you too Mikey," she replied back, shutting her eyes. Both twins slipped into slumber soon after, neither dreaming of anything at all.

* * *

Waking up was difficult for both of them the following morning. Their sleep had been deep and restful and both had needed rest so dearly. Mikey felt like he had the previous morning except perhaps a bit groggy. He was the first to wake, smiling when he saw that his sister had started drooling in her sleep. Her hair was spread out over the pillow, some actually in her still open mouth while other strands stuck to her cheek.

He got out of bed quietly, wanting to let her rest a little longer. In the meantime he took the opportunity to use her bathroom, getting a nice hot shower and shaving before going to make her tea. Finally with tea in hand he went to wake her, knowing that she really would sleep all day if he let her.

He shook her shoulder gently, surprised when her eyes snapped open immediately. Normally he needed to call out to her a few times before she would even begin to awaken. He watched as she yawned and stretched and wiped at her face with a grimace.

"You didn't see anything Mikey," she muttered, pointing at him menacingly.

"See what?" He replied with a shrug, though he smiled and laughed a small bit.

"Good, you've learnt well," she said with a breathy laugh before she reached for her tea, sipping it in contentment. With his own cup in hand he climbed onto the bed and took a few sips himself. They sat in silence for a while, just drinking tea before Morganna finally spoke.

"So- we should probably go over what we know about Freddy's," she said with a sigh, clearly not wanting to talk about it but knowing that they needed to. "I'll start out by saying that Freddy's is the second location that the company has taken."

"The second location, why haven't I heard this before?" He asked, brow furrowing in confusion.

"Yeah, Freddy's was opened in 1981. Previous the restaurant was known as Fredbear's Family Diner, which was closed down in 1979 following a case of missing children spanning a few months. There were at least five children who went missing that year and they closed down the diner the year after, presumably because of the reputation it garnered. The company decided to open a new renamed pizzeria in a different location the following year," she started off. "A suspect of the kidnappings was found and convicted, though the bodies of the children were never found. I don't know what happened to the convicted man, but I assume he's still in jail, since he was convicted of five kidnappings."

"Alright, so that guy couldn't be… couldn't be the purple man, could he?" Mike asked, not wanting to name the man who had continued to haunt them.

"I don't think so. I mean- it's really similar, but I, I'm not really sure Mikey. All's I know other than what I've said is that Freddy knows something about the incident, but said that they didn't talk about it," she said, chewing her lip for a moment. "At one point he said- he said that they ripped apart an animatronic named Goldie, but kept his suit for some reason. That golden freddy suit."

"That's- why would they only keep the suit?" Mike asked, his face was a bit pale remember the suit, but he kept himself together. He was not going to freak out over that thing again.

"I don't know. We could ask Freddy, but he did say they didn't speak of the incident. We might have to figure it out on our own," she said with a sigh.

"Oh! Mr. Sinclair, Alicia's father owns Fazbear Entertainment now. Mr. Becker seemed insistent on not using his name, but he let it slip out when I had to speak with him yesterday," Mike mentioned next.

"I knew that. Alicia told me," she said with a sigh. "She said that he bought the company in '88 after the bite. Something about it being for her, since they spent a lot of time there, but it seems odd that he'd just shut the place down after buying it for that reason, though she did mention that he didn't actually had a hand in the running of the place."

"That does seem a little strange, but that doesn't fully explain why the restaurant isn't well taken care of," he pointed out. "Not to mention the corners cut with the night time supply of power. If it was for his daughter, then why didn't he try to fix the place up?"

"I don't know. Maybe we should ask Alicia? See if she knows anything," Morganna brought up after some thinking.

"Okay, that sounds like a plan. Any other ideas?" He asked, coming up with nothing on his end.

"Maybe you should ask Mr. Becker about the Golden Suit? Or someone working at the restaurant, see if anyone knows anything," she said with a shrug.

"I-I guess I could try that," he said with a sigh, still uncomfortable with the topic of the golden suit, but probably even more uncomfortable with talking to his boss again. The man was responsible for the deaths of the other night guards, even if he claimed otherwise. "I could probably ask Foxy about it. He might be a bit more open about it then Freddy and if I remember correctly he's the second oldest animatronic so he should remember Fredbear's at least a little."

"That's a good idea Mikey, alright so we have a game plan this time," she said with a sigh. "Now we just have to stick to it."

"Alright, so we have a few hours to kill now," Mike said, looking at the clock that read it was three in the afternoon.

"Wanna play some duck hunt before picking up some food in a bit? Just don't let Chica know," she replied with a wink and chuckle.

"She's not a duck," He said with a sigh. "I thought you guys were getting along now?"

"Oh, we are. I let her know that I call her a duck because I looove her, so we're all good," she laughed and her laughter only increased at the sour look on Mike's face.

"I'm pretty sure she didn't mean that you could still call her a duck," he shook his head with another sigh on his lips. "But whatever. Sure, duck hunt, get dressed, get food, got it."

* * *

**AN :: Random information: me and my dad used to play duck hunt to extend my bed time when I was a child. That or we'd see who got farther in super mario bros. That evolved into playing chess when I was ten and then eventually there was no bed time by middle school. I blame the beginnings of my insomnia on duck hunt. Though I do end up writing more because I can't sleep. Anyway, enough about me. I've brought to you today another update. n.n Thanks so much for reading again! All of the reviews, follows, and favourites motivate me like no other, I'm really glad you guys are liking everything so far! I might have a little special short update for you guys in a day or two that will make some of you very happy. n.n Thank you all again for your support of this story! Please do leave a review or shoot me a PM if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. I love hearing from you all! Thanks so much again everyone and as always I hope that your day or night is a wonderful one!**


	13. Before Midnight

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

Mike and Morganna parted ways after dinner, Mike heading to the pizzeria early as he had been doing the past few nights. He didn't know what Morganna was getting up to, but she did mutter something about reading through a few articles she'd rather not read through. Hopefully she would take care with whatever she was doing, he did want her to show up sometime in the night. She didn't have episodes like he did often, but when she did they were just as bad, and he rather not find her passed out due to hyperventilation.

Walking into Freddy's at the end of the night was always a little strange, since all the lights were lit and only the two janitors were in the building. He dropped his bag and hat off at the security office, not feeling comfortable just leaving it in the party room as he went to get supplies to clean up. Today he was going to clean up Pirate's Cove a bit, dust was gathering back there and poor Foxy was the one that had to live in it.

As he went towards Pirate's Cove he was stopped by the older janitor, who looked surprised to still see him there.

"So you're back again tonight? I have to say I'm surprised to see you back and still helping us out," the man started, conversationally.

"I told you that the animatronics aren't so bad sir," he replied, a small smile on his face. Sure they were bad those first few nights, but it wasn't their fault. He actually didn't think that they'd be shoving supposed endos in a suit any time soon again, finding out that they'd been wrong. That might've been the only upside to them finding out that they were murders. He still wished that they didn't have to know that fact though, it hadn't been their fault.

"Either you're full of crap or something changed with them," the man let out with a sigh.

"I used to come here as a child, me and my twin sister. Maybe they recognise me from then?" He suggested, he was strangely bothered by the man's continued dislike of the animatronics, maybe because they had become so much closer since the previous night.

"That's- I don't even know how that would be possible. Stranger things have happened though. So you have plans to stay on until they close the restaurant?" he asked, leaning on his broom.

"Yeah, at least until they close the restaurant," Mike said, a sigh of his own following. He really hated the thought that Freddy's would be shut down, that they'd fail trying to save it.

"Well then, the name's Walter Smith. Since we'll be working together a while yet you can go ahead and call me Walter," Walter said with a nod. "I'm still not sure if you're crazy or not, but we can always use the help since it's just the two of us."

"I'll be glad to help sir. I was wondering though, if I may ask, how long have you been working for Fazbear Entertainment?" Mike asked, curious about why the man stayed, he seemed rather bothered by the events that took place but didn't do anything to prevent them, it hadn't been until his fourth night that the man had suggested that he quit and not come back.

"I didn't originally work for Fazbear's son. I worked for a cleaning company that they hired back in '75 for the first restaurant. When they moved locations I was called by Fazenbaker himself to come work for the company," he explained.

"Who's Fazenbaker?" Mike asked, confused a little.

"Fredrick Fazenbaker was the owner of Fredbear's.. He sold the company after… after the closing of the old restaurant, but he maintained the right to hire a staff, or rather keep the old staff on for the new restaurant before he left the company for good. He was a good man, but with the decline of his wife Lucille's health and a few other things, he just didn't want to deal with running a company," the man said with a nod.

"I spoke with him on a few occasions and he knew that I needed a job, so he made sure I got it. The cleaning company I'd been with had been going out of business," he continued. "The other janitor you've seen around here is my grandson. The new owner has been kind enough to hire him on too."

"So have the animatronics' always been on free roam mode at night?" Mike asked, he wanted to ask about the other night guards murders, but it was clear that the man was steadfast trying not to bring it up.

"Not always, at Fredbears they went into some kind of sleep mode. When they came to the new location free roam mode was turned on. Though if I recall correctly the free roam mode wasn't installed in them all until the last year at Fredbears," he answered, scratching at his chin as he was trying to remember.

"Gramps! Come on, less talking and more work," The other man yelled from across the room in a whiny voice.

"Boy! You better have more respect for your elders!" The man yelled back, before letting out another sigh and turning back to the night guard. "That boy… anyway nice to talk to you, Mike was it?"

"Yes sir, Mike Schmidt."

"Eh, just call me Walter son. I wonder why that boy can't be more like you," the older man complained with yet another sigh. "Well, back to work. We appreciate the help Mike."

With that the man walked towards his grandchild, scolding him from what it sounded like. Mike shook his head, the younger man did need to learn some respect. Though that wasn't really any of his business he supposed. Though he did wonder how old the kid was, for it was clear that he was most likely still in high school by the way he spoke and acted.

Picking back up the cleaning equipment he walked towards the curtains of Pirate's Cove, moving them aside to step up onto the stage. He smiled a bit when he saw Foxy's figure in the darkness before moving to the wall, looking for a light switch. He let out a huff of frustration a few minutes later after fruitlessly patting down the wall. It was just too dark to see.

"It's in the corner there laddie," the Fox said suddenly, eyes lightly up the area dimly.

"Holy shit!" Mike couldn't help but exclaim, flinching harshly in surprise. He clutched at his chest, feeling the frantic pounding as he pulled in a long breathe of air. "Fucking hell Foxy, seriously, don't ever do that again. You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry lad, I didn't think you'd react like that," the fox apologised, his head slumping down. Mike sighed and shook his head, his heart rate slowly returning to normal. He didn't mean to make the animatronic feel bad, but he had seriously scared the crap out of him.

"It's- It's alright Foxy. I just wasn't expecting you to, you know, be online. Cause you aren't supposed to be until twelve," he replied, still calming down from the fright.

"Ah, you see lad, we come online when anyone gets close enough to our sensors, not just at twelve," the fox informed him. He looked away sheepishly again, "I thought ye knew that, since ye came and talked to us all the other day."

"Nope, that was just shot in the dark. I'm actually surprised you really did remember us," Mike said as he walked over to the light switch, now visible from the dim yellow light coming from Foxy's eyes.

"Ye just wounded this ol' sea fox's heart. Like I would ever forget my first mateys," he replied dramatically with a chuckle. The shuffling of chairs in the party room made them both fall silent.

"The cleaning crew still here?" Foxy asked quietly when the shuffling stopped.

"Yeah, so just keep quiet. I'm going to clean up the cove a bit before hitting up the stage. I've gotten it pretty clean now though so it shouldn't take long. The two janitors get most everything else done, they just don't like the stage or the band," he said as he started sweeping the floor. It was a little disturbing how covered in dust it was, foot prints clearly visible now under the light.

Foxy watched as Mike swept away most of the dust and the cobwebs before the night guard turned to him. The man turned to the bucket of water and pulled out a sponge, wringing most of the water from it so it was just damp.

"Alright Foxy, I'm cleaning you up. You've literally been sitting in years of dust," he said with a grimace. The fox didn't move immediately, making the guard frown and furrow his brows. "I need you to stand up."

Foxy sighed and complied, though he didn't really see what the point was in cleaning him up. He wasn't going to be seen any time soon nor would it make him look any more appealing. The fox knew he was broken, possibly beyond repair, his suit was tattered, his tail was damaged beyond repair, his ears weren't in great shape either, not to mention the missing pieces from his endoskeleton. A simple cleaning wasn't going to do much.

"Ye really don't have to lad. I mean, even cleaned up there isn't much to ol' Foxy anymore," he said, his voice only just managing to not sound sad about the thought remaining even in a blank unemotional tone. "Plus it's not like I'm preforming still, no one sees me back here."

"Don't say that Foxy! It- it sounds like you've given up," Mike paused in his work, looking up at the animatronic worriedly. Could animatronics get depressed? What Foxy said, it sounded like he didn't think much of himself anymore. If the range of emotion they felt was really all encompassing, then it was totally possible that he really was depressed. In which case, what should he do to help Foxy?

"I'm just stating facts Mikey. Captain Foxy won't be preforming anytime soon, I'm actually surprised they didn't just get rid of me," the fox replied with a light shrugging motion. He tried not to show the lad how much it bothered him, that they just kept him around, letting him rot away.

"Well we are going to fix you Foxy! No matter what, me and Morg are going to find a way to fix you and get you preforming again. You never deserved to be left forgotten back here, and I won't let them get rid of you," the man replied, his voice and eyes burning with determination.

Foxy grinned a little at the expression on the man's face, feeling warm from the compassion the human showed him, that he always showed him even when he was a child. Growing up really hadn't changed his little Mikey very much. He had more education sure and he wasn't as innocent, but otherwise the world hadn't beaten the kindness out of him.

"Thank ye Mikey, for not giving up on me when even I have started doin' so," Foxy said after a few moments of silence, bringing his good hand up to pat the man's head.

Mike leaned into the fox's touch, a smile on his face. After a few minutes the smile feel and his cheeks flushed a deep red as he pulled back from the touch. He coughed and rewetted the sponge.

"Yes, um well. Yes," was all he could get out in his embarrassment, not understanding the strange feelings he was overcome with for a very brief moment. He scrubbed at a darker stain on the red fox's suit while biting his lip, pushing away his embarrassment.

"Your suit is a little tattered, but at least it's not covered in food. Bonnie's still kind of smells like rotten tomatoes don't let him know I said that though," he rambled on. "I mean, it's not like it's his fault. But anyway, I'm sure we can fix up your suit no problem. It really isn't too bad, and I know how to sew, so..."

The man trailed off leaving the fox rather confused by his reactions. What did red cheeks mean? Other than 'I'm about to cry' or 'I'm really embarrassed because I'm in the spotlight and I don't know what to say.' Those were his only real experiences with seeing red cheeks. Oh wait, kids had red cheeks when they were sick or getting sick too, didn't they? Was Mikey getting sick? He'd been alright a second ago, but human illnesses were rather strange.

"Are ye alright there Mikey? Ye aren't getting sick now are ye?" Foxy asked in concern when the human finally stopped talking.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Well, I got you in better shape at least. I still have to clean the stage and make sure to clean off whatever was flung onto the band today. So I'll see you in a bit Foxy," he said quickly, grabbing his supplies and hoping off of the stage, leaving a very confused Foxy.

When he was in the hallway he took a quick look around, making sure that neither janitor was nearby before dropping the supplies and leaning against the wall. He buried his face in his hands for a moment, dragging them down it and letting out a groan.

What was wrong with him? He felt butterflies, butterflies! Could it be possible that he was developing feelings for Foxy? For an animatronic he loved as a child? For the animatronic that he viewed as a hero when he was a child? What was wrong with him! He banged his head on the wall behind him.

But was it really so bad? It wasn't like he was falling in love with an inanimate object. Foxy clearly had feelings, complex feelings that manifested themselves somehow, given that he could sound like he was crying even when he wasn't given the ability to. Wait- falling in love? He wasn't, no. He just… admired the fox, that was all, just liked him, a lot. Why did that even come to mind and now he was arguing with himself. He really was going crazy.

He shook his head, it was probably a one-time feeling, or so he told himself. It wasn't like the fox would return his feelings, considering the fact that he still acted like Mike was still very much a child, not that Mike was complaining, he actually liked all the hugging and head patting that was going on. Having a sister who was a rock that didn't want to be touched most of time and no real friends left him pretty touch starved.

Still- it was unlikely Foxy would ever think of him as anything other than a child and his first matey, so the point was moot. Besides, the butterflies would go away he was sure. He was just latching onto the feeling of friendship a bit too strongly. That's all it was, intense friendship, nothing else.

Picking up the cleaning supplies again he walked to the stage, finally starting to clean it up again before moving onto the band. They really were in a much cleaner state now thanks to him. He couldn't help but pride himself on that. When it came close to midnight he headed back towards the office, intending to retrieve his bag and hat. In the back of his mind he thought of his earlier thoughts and couldn't help feeling like he was lying to himself.

* * *

**AN :: And so marks the first voyage of the SS Mike x Foxy ship of this series. Actually I hadn't planned on it happening this soon, but my brain instructed my fingers to type this chapter out and frankly I don't hate it my dears. On the other hand I know have a few scenes written out of order that I'll have to slide place later. Overall my brain was productive this week, if not a bit chaotic in what random bits it wanted to write.**

**Actually while we're all here, I did want to bring a possibility up to everyone. Please review or PM me your opinion, it would really help me out. So this is a 5NAF fanfiction, as you all know the series can get quite dark. Well my writing has gotten a bit dark, some of those out of place scenes are what I'm talking about. What I want to know is how many of you are against this fic bumping up to an M rating in a few chapters? Please keep in mind that if there are upsetting subjects/triggers involved in later chapters, I am not an idiot, I will clearly indicate where they are and where they end for those who wish to skip them for whatever reason they have. However if you are all against me bumping the rating up, I could also post that specific content as a one shot for those who do want to read it. Please do let me know within the next few chapters.**

**Thank you all again for being such lovely people! I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter. As always I hope that your day or night is a wonderful one!**


	14. Dawn of the Past

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

Mike and Morganna had gone to a Chinese place within walking distance of her apartment after calling their food in so that they didn't cut things too close. Mike wanted to be there early and all, plus if she was truthful, she wanted some time alone to think. Mike was far more optimistic than her about the whole situation, though she was trying to look on the bright side.

Again, if she were a more truthful individual, she would tell the animatronics and Mike that she doubted they'd be able to save the place. The pizzeria was just too run down and unfortunately so were the animatronics, but her doubt didn't mean she wouldn't do her best to try figuring out a way to save it. So she sat there at the table after Mike had left for work and slumped in the chair with a sigh.

Another few moments later she shifted again, putting elbows on the table and leaning her chin into them, her face scrunching up in attempts to think. What could possibly work to save the pizzeria? She couldn't think of anything other than… well Chica could make more pizza. If Chica made the pizza then maybe more people would come to the restaurant?

The pizza that she and Mike ate at Freddy's the day before hadn't been the best. It was terrible, but it did taste cheap and far too greasy. Greasy pizza wasn't bad, but when the crust was soggy because of it, well that wasn't good. Chica's pizza were somehow much better, even though she probably used the same ingredients. Somehow a day old pizza was better than one made fresh that day, somehow that seemed like a crime of some sort. What kind of chefs weren't as good as an animatronic? Well regardless, Chica's pizzas would most likely be a bigger hit than what they currently served.

Well, that was one thought, but again she had her doubts. Would just making the pizza better have enough impact on business to prevent them from closing in a week? Probably not. She sighed again and spread her arms out on the table before thunking her head down unthinkingly. She hissed through her teeth at the sting that erupted from the cuts she'd given herself the night before.

A loud ringing went off a moment later and she sat up quickly, this time hitting the back of her head off of the wall behind her. She muttered a curse under her breath, glaring at those nearby her that were looking before answering the phone.

"Hello? This is Morganna," she grumbled into the phone, sounding a little irritated.

"O-Oh! This is Alicia. I'm sorry if I called at a bad time," the voice on the other line stuttered out making Morganna straighten in her seat. Truthfully she regretted just giving the other girl their numbers without taking hers, unsure if she would get up the nerve to call either of them.

"No, it's not a bad time at all. Sorry, I just accidently hit my head off of something that's all," Morganna admitted sheepishly. "Just got a bit klutzy I guess. So you actually called!"

"I said I would," the other woman replied smugly, probably proud she had worked up the nerve.

"Yeah but you're a nervous little thing. I wasn't sure if you'd actually gather the courage," she teased, smiling at the sputtering that ensued, she was quite positive the other girl was blushing.

"I-I am not nervous," she replied quickly.

"Ah-ah your stuttering Miss Nerves," Morganna teased some more with a fond smile.

"Whatever," the other finally sputtered out with a defeated sigh after a few moments of silence with a sigh. "Anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to get lunch tomorrow? Mike's invited too of course. I wanted to ask you some questions,"

"Sure, I'll be free for lunch. I'll ask Mikey too, though I'm pretty sure he doesn't have plans," she started, mentally sighing at her last comment. It wasn't like Mike had friends to make plans with, other than robotic ones now. He needed friends and actually she didn't have any room to talk recently since she had been a hermit, she needed to hang out with the ones she had. Meeting up with Alicia could be a healthy dose of social interaction for the both of them. "So yeah, lunch. You have a place and time you want to meet us?"

"Maybe The Rose Tea Café? The food there is pretty good-" she started to say before being cut off.

"Are you kidding me? They have good food and damn good tea, so I'm totally there," she replied, chuckling at the other girl's quiet disgruntled mutterings after she cut her off.

"Alright then, it's a date," Alicia said before sputtering. "I-I mean not a date, but a get together."

Morganna chuckled again at the girl's flustered attempt at redeeming herself. She understood well enough that it was not a date, after all the other woman hadn't reacted at all to her flirting a few days before. She'd been pretty suggestive when they conversed the previous night, much to her brother's dismay. It was how he knew immediately what she'd been doing when she watched the other woman leave. She'd just been admiring what she couldn't have, since it was pretty clear the Alicia wasn't interested.

Well, it was either that the other woman wasn't interested, or never considered the possibility of a relationship with another female. Which was fair, the world they lived in wasn't exactly the most accepting of homosexual relationships of any kind. Still, that basically meant no, because Morganna wasn't going to push it. Sure she was interested, but Alicia seemed the long term type and frankly it had been a while since she'd been in a relationship that didn't end badly or after only a week or two. And she liked the other girl surprisingly enough, she didn't want to ruin a blooming friendship because she was a selfish fuck who wanted some.

The brunette wasn't known for her promiscuity, but she also wasn't known for being a prude. That was mostly because she kept her love and sexual life to herself, not involving others. Most of who she dated were of similar mind, private people who generally didn't go around gossiping. Actually most of the people she associated with were those kind of people too. Drama happened, but that didn't mean that she had to deal with those that made it grow.

"Oh, sorry, spaced out a second there," Morganna apologised, realising they'd just sat in thirty seconds of silence. "Anyways, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, tomorrow then," Alicia replied quickly.

"Alright, have a nice night then. Bye," Morganna said before disconnecting. She sighed and finally waved the waiter over for the check, slightly surprised that they hadn't brought it over already since she'd been sitting there for almost two hours.

Pulling out her credit card she gave it to the waiter, waited until he came back, and signed the receipt. Then she was out of there. She figured she'd return to her apartment and wait it out until midnight, then she'd head to the pizzeria. There were some articles she had to look up after all, some articles she was sure she'd rather not read. She wasn't avoiding thoughts of the other girl, nope not at all, she didn't moon over people she just re-met. She wasn't mooning.

* * *

Around five till twelve, after waving to the cleaners as they both left in a hurry, Mike walked back to the office to retrieve his hat and bag. They were exactly where he left them on the seat, picking up his hat he pulled it on and reached towards his bag before pausing at the sound of the phone going off.

He furrowed his brows and stared at it. It couldn't be another message, phone guy- Phillip had died, hadn't he? The phone went to voice mail pretty quickly, before he could even think about answering it actually. Static came on before a low voice started talking, though Mike couldn't decipher what was being said, louder bits of static flashed in and out. He bit his lip, for some reason feeling uneasiness settle in his breastbone. He flinched at the sound of screaming, no that was mechanical screeching, flinching each time it cut off and began again before the call abruptly ended.

He stood there in silence for a moment, that screa-screech… had that been the same noise Foxy made? The others made that noise too, if he inferred correctly from Phillips last call. Why was that in a message though? He tapped on the answering machine, rewinding it. When he pressed play he caught the end of Phillip's last call, and then there was silence. He stood there in silence until the tape clicked, nothing like the call played. What had that been?

"Hi Mikey!" A voice suddenly said from behind him. He let out a girlish scream before burying his face into his hand in embarrassment.

"What the fuck Bonnie! First Foxy and now you? Uggh," he groaned out, trying to calm his heart down again. This job was going to give him a heart attack yet it seemed and the animatronics weren't even actively tying to kill him anymore. That was kind of sad.

"Hey you were the one not paying attention! I actually didn't try to scare you scaredy cat," the purple rabbit responded hotly.

"I know Bonnie, neither did Foxy, but you gotta give me some kind of leeway here. I'm still very much on edge from those first few nights," Mike brought up with a sigh.

"Oh I-I hadn't thought about that, sorry Mike. I didn't mean to scare you so much," the rabbit apologised, looking thoroughly sorry after being reminded that Mike really did have a reason for being so on edge in their presence, since they did try to murder him.

Mike shook his head and reached out to the bunny, putting his hand on his arm, a forgiving smile on his face as he spoke kindly to the other, "It's alright Bonnie, I know you didn't mean to frighten me."

"Still- I'm really sorry. Chica always says I should be more sensitive," Bonnie replied, his ears dropping from the middle segments.

"Hey, everyone makes mistakes unthinkingly Bonnie. It happens," Mike said with a shrug before finally slinging his bag on his shoulder. "Anyway lets go join the others. I'm sure Morg will be here soon."

Together they walked into the party room. He waved to the other animatronics before jumping at the sound of his phone. He really needed to turn down the ringer volume or something or he really was going to have a heart attack. He didn't answer it and instead walked to the entrance and opened the door for Morganna who'd been waiting there for him.

She walked through the door before turning to him her face pale and eyes belying her fright. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Swallowing he tried again, "What's wrong?"

"I read some articles I wish I hadn't first off," she replied, swallowing herself before continuing. "The man convicted of the kidnapping of five children was named Franklin Fitzgerald. He died in prison less than a year after his sentence, presumably murdered by another inmate."

"So he couldn't have been?" Mike asked, keeping his voice low. She shook her head.

"No, that was in '79, so there is no possibility of him being the one. Not to mention he was thirty-five and our guy was in his twenties in '87. I found records of the man who-who tried to- him. His name was Victor Rothschild, he would be thirty-seven years old now, but no one seems to know where he went. He disappeared from the hospital after surgery," she finished, her hands were clenched in fists. Mike swallowed taking a moment to think before he spoke.

"Okay, so he might be out there. But I don't- I don't think he would return here. I mean, especially after what happened to him. There haven't been any recent missing persons cases has there?" He asked, really hoping not. He let out a breath when her hands unclenched.

"No- no there haven't been, at least not for children. Of course the city has adult missing cases ever now and then, but there hasn't been any major ones for years other than the one about that woman who kidnapped her ex-husband," she mentioned, while she wasn't totally reassured, she felt much better than a few moments before. "I-I guess your right Mikey. I never even thought about that."

"As much as I'm worried too, I don't think we should give that man any more rule over our lives," he said quietly. Perhaps they were too wrapped up around that memory. It had been haunting them for so long, they'd almost forgotten that the man literally had part of his brain chewed out and might even be a vegetable somewhere. Somehow that was an even more relieving thought, though he tried not to think about that too much.

"Hey guys, why are you just hanging out over at the door?" Chica walked over to them, head tilted to the side in confusion.

"No reason ducky," Morganna replied quickly, pushing her earlier discomfort away and pulling on an uneasy smirk as she walked over to a chair, Mike following and sitting as well.

"I thought we were friends now Morganna!" Chica complained with a wail.

"Oi, stop with that. We are friends, but that doesn't mean I'm not calling you a duck, ducky," she added for good measure, hiding her smile behind a hand as Chica stomped a foot down in irritation.

"You're still a jerk!" The chicken exclaimed as she crossed her arms with a pout.

"Yes I am, never claimed not to be," Morganna replied sticking her tongue out childishly. The banter really did make her feel a bit better, even though she was still bothered by the whole disappearing act the purple guy had done. She knew Mikey was right; she shouldn't let it run her life. Being wary was different than being terrified after all.

"So did anyone think up an idea on how we might be able to save the pizzeria?" Freddy asked, bringing the banter to an end. No one spoke for a while, everyone remained silent. Freddy sighed, knowing that they most likely wouldn't be able to do anything anyway.

"I was thinking earlier that maybe Chica could make the whole days' worth of pizza maybe?" Morganna said, unsure if it would work and if the others would agree.

"What would that do? I know she likes to cook but…" Freddy trailed off. The twins stared at him before slapping their own foreheads at the same time.

"Of course they don't-" Morganna began.

"Wouldn't know, because they," Mike said himself before the looked at one another.

"They can't taste or eat anything!" They exclaimed at the same time, laughing a bit. The animatronics looked at them strangely, wondering if their human companions had indeed gone crazy.

"Look guys, I don't know how you don't know this, but Chica's pizzas are special," Morganna said simply.

"Awww you really think my pizzas are that great?" Chica asked modestly, feeling rather flattered.

"Chica, your pizzas are somehow a hundred times better than the ones the normal cooks make. I don't know how, since you use the same ingredients, but they are," Mike said truthfully.

"They really are! The pizza Mikey brought home was amazing. So I was thinking that maybe if Chica made the pizzas then maybe it would draw back some business. We could all help out by prepping everything, but she'd need to do most of the work since she does the magic," she said with a smile and a nod.

"That actually is a really good idea Morganna! If my pizzas really are so good, then maybe the parents will tell other parents! But I can't have you all in my kitchen," Chica replied with a frown.

"Well how about me, Freddy, and Bonnie? That's just the four of us and as long as we use the island's counter for someone then there should be enough room," Morganna suggested, glancing sideways at her brother hoping that he got her message. If he was alone with Foxy he could ask about Fredbears.

"That sounds like a good idea. Me and Foxy can bounce ideas back and forth out here," Mike said, catching the not so subtle side glance with a roll of his eyes. He didn't think she knew how obvious she was being, though thankfully the meaning of the look was lost on the others.

"Alright! Let's go everyone, we got pizzas to make!" Chica said, practically pulling the group behind her.

Foxy, who'd been rather quiet up until then looked at Mike with a question on his face and lips, "What was that all about, lad?"

"Oh, I need to talk to you about, well about a difficult subject," Mike admitted with a sigh. Truthfully he wasn't looking forward to asking, unsure how the captain would respond, not to mention that he was really hoping that he had forgotten about Mikes strange display earlier.

"You can ask me anything lad," The fox said before sitting down, getting comfortable on the ground.

"It's- well Freddy said you didn't speak of it to Morganna the other night. We know about Fredbears and that something happened there," Mike began, having taken a moment before he spoke to gather his thoughts.

"Ah, Fredbears. Freddy asked me if I remembered the old diner yesterday too, it seems to be on everyone's mind," Foxy said with a sigh. "Listen Mikey, some awful stuff happened there. Freddy wanted me to forget, so I told him I did."

"But you didn't," Mike stated, looking at the fox.

"Aye, I couldn't. The others were too new, I doubt they even remember who Goldie was," Foxy said with a sigh.

"Captain, I'm sorry, but I really need to know what exactly happened. It's pretty important to figuring out… well everything. It might have something to do with why you saw the night guards and me as endoskeletons and why management is so content to let people die here. Something is going on and the incident at Fredbears might be at the centre of it," Mike replied, hoping that was enough of a reason for Foxy to tell him what he knew. It was clear the fox did not want speak of it.

"Aye, alright lad. Just- let me gather my thoughts a second," the fox finally said after a moment. "Fredbears was a pretty ordinary family diner, though far more popular than the others in town because it had us. For a while it was just Goldie, Freddy, and I. Goldie and Freddy were marketed as brothers who did duets and kept everyone in the restaurant entertained. I was mainly the after dinner entertainment for the kids, telling tales to the gathered kids so that the adults could talk or leave the restaurant for a smoke.

"It was a different time, people just weren't as careful as they are now or even just a few years later. They left their children alone all the time and didn't worry too much about it. The kidnappings didn't happen at the same time, it was over about a course of a year. It was- it had to be the night guard," Foxy said, pausing with a sigh that left Mike confused.

"Did you not think it was him?" Mike asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I didn't lad. Franklin was a kind man, treated Goldie, Freddy, and I with respect even though he didn't know how sentient we were. His wife and kids clearly adored him; he brought them to the diner often enough for even us to know that. Never did I even see an ounce of sadness touch that family. They truly seemed to be the happiest family that graced the establishment," he said his voice sounding sad. "I don't know how or why he did what he did. He maintained that he was innocent until the end, but there was no one else that could have done it. No evidence that didn't point at him."

"That does sound odd, but why could only the night guard have done it?" Mike asked, curious as to the answer.

"Management- management found the bodies of those kids. Fredrick Fazenbaker was the owner and he, he was a good man, but he-" Foxy paused again, gathering himself. "Goldie often times was in the back during the night. He needed special repairs, since he was the oldest of us. Fazenbaker didn't know that the mechanic often times didn't do his job for some reason or another, but the day after Franklin had been taken in… they found body parts lodged in him. A few arms and legs mostly, but of at least seven different children, not just five. Fazenbaker got rid of the evidence, but that's when he knew that it had to be the night guard, since he'd be the only one to know about Goldie being back there as well as the fact the mechanic didn't do his job often, since the mechanic would often leave early."

"He- he just got rid of evidence though? That's- why would he do that?" Mike couldn't comprehend it, that the man would just- And not to mention the poor families that never received any form of closure.

"It was wrong, no doubt, but he didn't want the diner to shut down, not to mention the effect the news would have on his wife. Lucille was very affected by the case. She loved children, wanted her own when she'd been younger, but was unable to have any. The creation of the diner and us were the closest she had gotten to actual children of her own. She loved every child that stepped through the door and hearing that some had been kidnapped, perhaps killed, that had cause her first break down," the fox paused again. The story was not a short or happy one, but he needed to tell it.

"Anyway Fazenbaker got rid of that evidence, but found a Freddy suit that clearly had been used by the killer judging by the blood stains. That's what he gave to the police that they used to convict Franklin. The diner lost a lot of customers despite the fact that Bonnie and Chica were finally a part of the show, but even so the diner went into a decline and Lucille-" Foxy cut himself off. The woman had been like a mother to him and the others, even though they weren't actual flesh and blood, it hurt to think-

"Did she-" Mike tried to get out the words, it was clear that it bothered Foxy though he still couldn't get the words out.

"She killed herself inside the dinner, hung herself from the ceiling," he said sadly. "Fredrick was beside himself with sadness and he shut down the restaurant and us. For two years we sat in the shutdown building, until someone bought the company, and moved us to this location."

Mike wasn't sure what to say, though he could now understand why Freddy hadn't wanted to talk about it. He moved off of the chair he sat on so he was beside Foxy, leaning against him in an attempt to comfort him a little.

"Fazenbaker still comes to see us sometimes, but I- I really hate him now," Foxy admitted quietly.

"Why?" Mike asked, wanting to know exactly why Foxy would hate his creator.

"He abandoned us, threw us away just like he did with the children's corpses. Maybe if he had done things differently Lucille wouldn't have- I guess it's pointless to think that way," Foxy admitted with a sigh. "I've done wrong too."

"What do you mean now?" Mike asked, having a suspicion this time of what the Fox was talking about.

"Did ye forget about the bite Mikey?" He asked, looking at the man sceptically.

"No, but that was an accident, not you doing something wrong, wasn't it?" He asked, brows furrowed.

"Well- yes and no I suppose," he said, but said nothing else. He knew why he'd done it, seeing the terror on the twin faces, but he didn't want to make Mikey feel like it was his fault, because it wasn't. Foxy knew that if he had just gone to management with the concern then the man would have been investigated and fired. Instead he scared some children by biting the man, like something had overtaken him. Whether it was deserved or not was up to debate, but it was clear that the children had been negatively affect by it.

"Even if it wasn't, that man, he was bad news. He-" Mike paused, not sure if he wanted to say anything about the incident. Foxy never did fully know the story behind why they were scared of that man. Foxy had just told him about Fredbears though and he had a right to know that he hadn't hurt someone who was totally innocent.

"Foxy, do you remember that night me and Morganna ran into the cove really scared?" Mike asked. "It was a summer night a few months before the bite."

"Aye, I do Mikey. Ye both gave me and your father quite a fright," he replied with a nod.

Mike bite his lip, worrying it between his teeth before reaching out and pulling Foxy's good hand into his own, intertwining them tightly as he tried to bringing himself to speak. The fox used his thumb to stroke the back of Mikey's hand in an attempt to calm the man down. It was clear that what he wanted to say was hard to get out.

"H-he-he came to us during F-Freddy's show and to-told us that moth-mother, that something happened to her and fa-father c-called," he took a breath, cursing his stuttering. "S-so we fo-followed him, he knew our names and ev-everything so-so we didn't think he was lying. He-He took us backstage and I don't' know what he was going to do, but-but his smile."

"Mikey?" Foxy looked at the man with concern, the man was shaking rather badly.

"Morganna hit him with her sword in the crotch and we ran out to you. We-we didn't tell any-anyone about him after that day. It was- it was too scary, but we should have. I- what if he hurt other kids in those months? We didn't even know what he was going to do to us and that, that made everything more terrifying. Even now-even now we think of him and-and we just," Mike couldn't finish his rambling and instead just sat there, a few tears running down his face.

"You were just a child Mikey, you aren't at fault for anything," Foxy said gently. "You came to me, and I was the one that didn't do anything until the bite."

"It's not your fault either captain. We- we were so scared, I doubt you were even able to understand us properly," Mikey replied in kind. They sat there in silence for a while, taking comfort in the closeness.

Mike didn't want to admit it, but the feelings he was trying to push away and ignore weren't disappearing. It was strange, he felt both comforted and nervous around Foxy now, being so close to the fox made him feel warm, his cheeks flushing slightly at the feeling. He was- something had to be wrong with him. He hadn't any interest in dating someone in a long time, so perhaps that's why he was latching onto these feelings so quickly? Or had he always had them, only now they'd changed since he was an adult. He was no psychologist, but he knew that it was beyond strange.

"We should probably go and see how the others are doing," he said with a sigh, pushing himself off of the ground and therefore away from Foxy. The fox followed suit, getting up off the floor with a quiet moan of metal. He looked at Mikey and tilted his head when he noticed red cheeks again.

"Are ye alright Mikey?" The fox asked, concerned for the health of his matey still.

"I-I'm fine Captain," Mike insisted with a slightly strained smile. With that he turned and walked towards the kitchen, pushing swinging doors open to a strange and surprising sight.

Flour littered the floor, the island was covered in it too, a few pieces of dough were on the floor near the walls too. Freddy and Chica were working on spreading sauce and cheese on what seemed to be the last few pizzas. Mike raised an eyebrow, wondering where Bonnie and Morganna had gone until he looked at the corner of the room and then the opposite corner, where both stood facing the corner.

He burst out laughing, noticing a big glob of sauce in Morganna's hair on top of her being totally covered in flour. Looking over at Bonnie he was in a similar state, though he had grated cheese on his shoulders and head, meanwhile chunks of dough lay on the ground around him.

"Shut up Mikey, not one fucking word!" Morganna barked from the corner, looking over her shoulder at him with a deadly glare.

"Morganna! Facing the wall, you too Bonnie!" Chica snapped at them both, turning back to her work after watching them both return to their corner time.

"Alright, I'll bite, what happened?" Mike finally asked when his laughing fit subsided.

"Bonnie started it!" Morganna interjected, not turning way from the wall.

"Morganna!" The chicken scolded with a sigh. "Bonnie threw some flour at her, so she threw some back. Things were fine for a while, but then she stuck a big glob of dough onto his back and then he threw some sauce into her hair and then they were both throwing cheese and flour at one another."

Mike actually felt bad for Freddy and Chica, having to put up with the childish fight that had apparently erupted. Still, he couldn't help but laugh again about it.

"So how long are they staying in the corner?" He asked between laughs. He laughed a little harder hearing Morganna scoff.

"I'm a grown ass woman. I can leave any time I want," she said, moving to do so. She made the mistake of looking at Chica when she did so, the look on the animatronic's face made her grumble and return to her spot in the corner.

"I know better than to cross Chica," Bonnie said with a sigh, making no attempt to move from the spot or look behind him again.

"No you apparently do not! You were the one that started messing around," Chica said heatedly while she took the remaining pizzas and shoved them in the oven.

"But Morganna put dough-"

"You both were at fault. Bonnie shouldn't have started the fight, but you Morganna shouldn't have kept it going," Freddy admonished with a sigh of his own.

"So the pizzas are all in the oven then?" Foxy asked, looking a little curious. "How many did you make?"

"The pizzas are all prepared now, we made the whole days' worth. Now we need to write a note for the chefs so that they know to use these pizzas tomorrow," Chica said, pulling out a notepad and pen and getting to work.

Mike watched in interest as she wrote, he hadn't been aware that they were able to, not thinking that their fingers would be able to hold the pencil right or be able to make the movements needed. And those thoughts meant that he was hanging around Morganna too much. He bit his lip, keeping back more laughter as he looked over in the corner, catching her looking over her shoulder at him with a glare again.

"Bonnie, Morganna, you can come here now," Freddy called out to the two. Both almost reluctantly turned around and walked closer to Freddy, neither looking at anyone, both had their arms folded petulantly. "Come on, don't act like children, apologise to each other."

"I'm sorry Morganna has such a laughable face that it needs to be covered with flour," Bonnie started, grinning at the glare he coaxed from the woman.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm sorry that Bonnie would look and smell better in a suit of dough than the one he's in now," she shot back, smirking when the animatronic glared and took a threatening step towards her.

"Hey! You are both acting like five year olds. Morganna, you're twenty-two now aren't you? Act like it. And you Bonnie! You actually started this and you are older than Miss Morganna. So please act like it," Freddy tried with an exasperated tone taking over.

"But she probably ruined my suit and there isn't a replacement!" Bonnie whined to Freddy, shooting the woman a glare.

"Hey, you started it Bon-Bon. That flour you threw at me wasn't just a little bit, I just know it's going to ruin these clothes," she started with a glare, finger out and pointing to him. "Now your suit on the other hand, it's not nearly as covered in flour. Easily patted out or wiped out with cold water. The dough? It already fell out of your fur, probably not leaving any reside. So hah. You're problem is solved. Mine is going to be a pain in the ass. Not to mention my poor hair. This is the fourth disgusting substance that's gotten into it this week."

"Ew, what got into your hair this week?" Bonnie asked with a weird face.

"Mikey's mucus, vomit the other night, you don't need to know the other," she said simply. Mike was horrified that she told them that he'd basically cried into her hair that he didn't even think to anything about how he found her that morning with her hair in her mouth, drooling into it. She'd probably bring up something else embarrassing anyway.

"Oh gross. I-I'm sorry. I didn't realise it would be such a pain to clean up. I just wanted a bit of fun," Bonnie said with a sigh.

Morganna sighed, her anger evaporating. "I guess, maybe I over reacted. Still- don't ruin my clothes again or I'll over react again." It wasn't exactly what Freddy had wanted to hear, but it was better than nothing he supposed.

"Alright, disaster averted?" Mike asked, an uncertain smile on his face.

"Yeah, Chica is that note done yet?" Morganna asked, leaning over the table to read it.

"Almost… there, done," the chicken responded. "Now we just have to clean up the kitchen then we'll be golden."

Even Freddy let out a groan at the thought of cleaning the messy area.

* * *

**AN :: Alrighty! So this chapter is now officially the longest of the story! Quite honestly I thought it was much shorter... though I thought I'd wrap this fic up in under twelve chapters and that's obvious not happening. I did want to ask you guys a question. Do you think I'm being too detailed with everything? Or am I doing alright? I have mixed feelings towards what I've written, since we're moving along pretty slowly, but I also want to get all those emotions and little bits of developing characterisation in there as well. Regardless I still hope you enjoy what I've written thus far despite my insecurities of course. **

**Now a real quick note about the rating change. I've decided it will be happening in the near future. Sections rated M will be sectioned off with little italic notes about what makes it M. I'll also write what generally happened at the end of the section in italics as well. No spoilers on what the M content will be, but you can probably guess based on where the story seems to be going later.**

**Again I really hope you enjoyed everything so far and if you could leave me some feedback via review or PM that would be wonderful! I really love hearing from you all and I'm always up for answering any questions you may have (no spoilers however!) or reading your general comments. That's all from your rambly author for now, as always I hope you have a wonderful day or night!**


	15. Night into Day

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

With the kitchen and Bonnie cleaned up, Morganna headed out about a half hour before six. Mike helped straighten the party room before the band returned to the stage and Foxy went back to the cove. At exactly six o'clock Mike headed towards the door, waiting to see the day manager like he had the night before, only there wasn't any other cars in the parking lot.

Perplexed, his eyebrows furrowed as he waited five more minutes. Five minute turned into ten, ten into half an hour and still there was no sign of the day manager. He bit his lip, feelingly slightly worried. Sure he didn't like the management of the place, but that didn't mean that he wanted anything bad to happen to them. The woman had always been on time, so it seemed odd to him that she suddenly would change routine. Still maybe something had just popped up? He really hoped she hadn't gotten in an accident or something.

He sighed, he was being too paranoid. People were late to work every day and it didn't mean that some tragedy had befallen them. As much as he didn't want to, he knew that he had to call his boss. With another sigh on his lips, he turned from the entrance and went back to the security office. Reading through the list of contact numbers by the phone he found Mr. Becker's home phone number and dialled.

"Hello, you've reached Becker, who might be calling?" A tired voice sounded on the line after the phone rang for a while.

"A-Ah Hello sir, this is Mike Schmidt," Mike began, pausing for a second.

"Schmidt? Are you still at the pizzeria?"

"Yes sir, the day manager hasn't arrived yet," he said, unsure if he'd done the right thing by staying around. The other man seemed perplexed as to why he was still there.

"Oh I forgot to tell you didn't I? Mrs. Medlock had an emergency situation pop up the other night and will be leaving us indefinitely. I have a replacement for her, but he won't be arriving in until this afternoon because of the short notice. I'll be coming in soon, so you can go ahead and just lock up son. Sorry about not giving you the heads up," he said, though it was clear that he wasn't really apologetic.

"Alright sir-"

"Oh, you should come in early again tonight actually. I want you to meet the new day manager, since you'll be working together for the next two weeks. If you're interested in a bit more in your pay check, I was thinking you could help him go over the building sometime in the next few weeks, make sure that everything is up to code since we'll be selling the building," the man mentioned.

"Ah yes sir that would be-"

"Glad to hear it son. Alright, just lock up and you should come in no later than ten tonight," the man cut him off again. Mike sighed after hear the receiver on the other end click off. The other man rarely let him get a word in edgewise. The more contact he had with his boss, the less he liked him. If they did manage to save the Pizzeria, he really hoped that the man would leave or something. He rubbed at his eyes tiredly before turning around and heading towards the entrance again.

He smiled at the band, though he knew that they were offline since he hadn't gotten close enough to bring them online again. Regardless he waved, "Bye guys, I'll see you later."

With a shake of his head and a little chuckle he locked the door and left the restaurant, not wanting to lose more sleep than he had to. He wasn't getting paid for overtime, besides he really was tired. There wasn't anything to worry about now that he knew the situation, though his curiosity was peaked a little. What could have made the day manager quit so suddenly? Well, it really wasn't any of his business, considering that he hadn't even had a proper conversation with the woman. He was sure it was nothing bad, his thoughts turned to the promise of sleep.

So with more comforting thoughts in mind he got into his car and headed towards Morganna's apartment complex again. He could go home without her being too disgruntled he was sure, but he had packed two days' worth of clothing and her guest room bed was ten times more comfortable than his. Sleep tended to help his brain work and they needed the thinking power, considering that each day that went by was a day closer to the closing of Freddy's. Or at least that was his current excuse.

He parked his car and let himself into the building, finding himself outside her apartment a few minutes later. Knocking on the door she let him in, her hair damp and dressed in pyjamas already. She yawned, collapsing on the couch in a dramatic heap that made him chuckle.

"We didn't even do that much today Morg. Why are you so exhausted?" He asked before joining her on the couch himself, purposely only just not landing on her lap but pining her legs down with his own.

Her face scrunched up in displeasure at the action and she shoved his legs off of hers and ended up pushing him off the couch entirely. He let out a loud 'oomph' as his butt landed on the floor.

"Ouch, come on Morg, can't a guy even ask a question?" He asked, laying back on the floor and staring up at the ceiling. She leaned over the edge of the couch and blocked his view.

"No, no you can't ask a question like that Mikey. You know perfectly well that me and Bon-Bon had a fight," she said with a glower at him. "And you didn't even stick up for your sister, you just laughed at her."

"I laughed at her because she was acting like a five year old," he replied back with a laugh.

"I was not acting like a five year old," she argued, but added nothing to the argument.

"You can't even come up with a better come back. Come on Morg, why'd you have to continue the fight? It's clearly because you have the mentality of a five year old," he taunted, laughing at the frustration that came across her face.

"Shut up Mikey. So, you're a little late getting here mister. Have an interesting talk with the day manager?" She teased in turn, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively making him sputter.

"No- I don't even know the woman's name. Besides I-" he cut himself off with a cough. "No she actually didn't show up strangely enough. I called the boss and he said that she had some kind of emergency situation and she had to quit."

"Oh, that's weird, considering that the Pizzeria is supposed to close in two weeks anyway," she commented, looking perplexed.

"Yeah, but Mr. Becker said he already had a replacement for her that I'm supposed to meet," he said with a shrug. "So I guess it doesn't matter too much."

"Eh whatever. Sucks that your dumbass of a boss didn't call you up to tell you that though," she said with a scowl. "Fucking hell, I don't even know the guy and I want to strangle him."

"Uh, please don't. I don't like him either Morg, but he's still my boss at the moment," he said with a sigh. "So if you could avoid seeking him out and attempting to murder or maim him that would be great."

"Oh come on, I can't even stab him with a pencil or something? Oh, I know! I could totally cover his office with toothpaste. That wouldn't hurt him, but it sure would be a pain to clean up," she suggested a wicked grin on her face.

"Why toothpaste?" He asked, perplexed as to why she even thought of it.

"Stuff is sticky and hard to get out of anything," she said simply, though she didn't look at him directly. He snickered, now knowing why she was thinking of toothpaste specifically.

"You got some in your hair before I came over didn't you?" He asked, laughing as she scoffed and didn't reply. "What's that, the fifth thing you got in your hair this week? I wonder what other substances will try to become one with your hair. Have you given thought to getting it cut?"

"Shut up Mikey. My hair is wonderful the way it is. It's entirely your fault it's had meetings with gross stuff," she said with a pout, stroking her hair lovingly. She liked her hair, it's voluminous-ness and constant penchant for being neither curly nor straight no matter what she did, though okay that part annoyed her but that was beside the point. The length was just right in her opinion, a little on the long side settling midway down her back. Sure it was a little bit of a pain, but she liked it.

"How about your hair Mikey? Isn't yours getting a little long for a guy?" She shot back at him, reaching a hand down to pull at it. Like hers it was wavy, settling just under his ears though, his bangs were definitely getting a bit long, swept to the side so that he could see. She was right that he did need a trim, but he wasn't going to let her know that.

"My hair is fine. Now, was there anything else? Or can I get up from the floor and go to bed now?" He said with a sigh. He really was quite tired himself, though thankfully not because he was having nightmares or having to deal with killer animatronics any longer.

"Before you head off to bed, Alicia gave me a call earlier," she said, reaching a hand down to him to help him up. He took it and pulled himself up with a grunt.

"Oh? And what did she say?"

"That she wanted to meet with us later today. If you're too tired though I can just go myself," Morganna said, noticing how truly exhausted he was.

"Yeah, that would probably be for the best. I have to go in early to talk to the boss anyway," he said with a sigh.

"Alright then, get to bed little brother. I'm going to stay up a little longer myself," she said waving him off and lying on the couch, her cheek to the side on the pillow.

"Okay, get to be soon though. I'm sure you want to be your best when you meet up with Alicia," he teased as he leaved the room.

"Oh shut up Mikey," she said under her breath, turning over on the couch with a sigh. Okay so she was attracted to the other girl, but she didn't know her very well just yet. So the thought of rejection didn't bother her that much. However, other thoughts swarmed around her head.

Mainly she was still worried about what was happening to the pizzeria. Okay so their pizzas would likely be used, since the cooks were aware that Chica made pizzas and most likely grateful for the time they could do other stuff with. Still- even so she doubted it would be enough to make a difference. Not to mention she was still worried.

No matter how much she tried, she couldn't push the bad feelings away. The thoughts of the purple man being out there… and fuck! She hadn't realised that she'd forgotten about the backpack. She brought her hands up to her face, letting out a strangled sob. That- that was proof that he'd been there. She doubted that it would have just sat there for years back there. Not to mention that the company seemed adapt at disposing of bodies.

No, that was proof that he had been there. Wasn't it? Or had she imagined the things she saw in it? Freddy hadn't reacted to the contents, though she wasn't sure if he'd seen them either. There was so much that they didn't know. Not to mention that they were both so screwed up in the head, panic attacks and hallucinations in all.

She tried to calm herself, breathing in deeply while her shaking hands formed fists. It took a lot for her not to get up and turn to a habit that she had been so good at keeping at bay recently. If Mikey hadn't been staying over, and it wasn't nearing eight o'clock in the morning, she would have left her apartment for the nearest bar to pick up someone.

Maybe some alcohol was in order. She needed something to slow the thoughts, fight away the panic. She pulled herself up, shakily making her way into her kitchen and opening the cabinet to grabbing a random bottle and a shot glass. She poured it and immediately tipped it back, uncaring of the slight burn. Repeating three times she finally returned the bottle and stumbled out of the room.

She plopped down on the couch again, intending to turn on the television. Instead she ended up staring at the ceiling for half an hour without a thought. Numbly she realised she was crying, silent tears running down her cheeks. Why she couldn't control her emotions any more was beyond her. There was so much wrong, too much wrong.

She finally gathered herself enough to try to stumble to her bedroom, shaky limbs getting her to the door before she shook her head. Sleeping alone would only bring nightmares she was sure, especially remembering the backpack. She turned to the guest room and quietly pulled it open before tip toeing to the bed, slipping under the covers quickly she tried not to wake up Mike.

"Uhm- Morg?" He grumbled out sleepily, making her grimace a bit.

"Shh just go back to sleep Mikey," she replied quietly, turning away from him and curling up.

"Okay. Love you," he mumbled. It was almost seconds later that he was asleep again, deep breaths telling her that he'd only woken for a second.

"Love you too Mikey," she whispered before closing her eyes.

* * *

Alicia Sinclair was having no luck unravelling the mystery behind Freddy Fazbear's on her own. Partially that was because she didn't know how to extract information from people who simply didn't want to talk about it. She wasn't exactly the most forceful person in the world and looking younger than she was didn't help others take her seriously either.

Still, she wanted to know what was up with her once favourite restaurant. Up until a few years before she was actually forbidden from going to the restaurant by the father that had supposedly bought it for her, and it just spurred the curiosity on. Actually a lot spurred her on, like the fact that it was almost the last place she remembered, before white rooms and doctors constantly by her side.

One thing that she hadn't told either Schmidt was that she felt like it hadn't been that long since she saw them. She hadn't seen them since '86 though, and well it would be strange to say that you felt like you saw them only a few weeks ago despite the fact that it was literally thirteen years later. But she supposed that a nearly deadly illness would do that to a person, considering that she spent quite a few years in an induced coma.

Regardless she was a little excited, both to spread a little light on the mystery surrounding Freddy's while they tried to save the place, as well as just getting to see someone outside of doctors and family members. Sure William was seated a few tables away, watching her and making sure that she was alright as per her father's request, but still. This was the most freedom she'd had since, well since she woke up to discover she had been so ill.

She really nearly jumped for joy when she saw the other woman enter the café, though she stopped herself. Really though, Morganna was lovely, she thought to herself watching the woman look around the room for her. Today she had on a slightly wet flared black trench coat and knee high boots, her hair looking perfect despite the fact that Alicia knew she rode a motorcycle helmet and all everywhere and not to mention that day's rain. She smiled a little before finally waving the other girl over.

"Oh hey Miss Alicia, aren't you looking nice," the brunette complimented her, winking suggestively while her eyes did a quick once over at the other girl. She wasn't lying; the frilly white summer dress looked good on the woman.

"T-Thanks," she managed to get out with a cough into her hand with minimum stuttering and all. "Oh- are you alright Morganna?"

After the other woman sat down she noticed how tired she looked. Smudged makeup provided a good look at purple bags under the other woman's eyes. Besides that, now that she was truly looking, she could see the way the other woman held herself. She was stiff and strained with ever movement. It was worrying to say the least.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired," Morganna replied simply, not wanting to upset the other woman. Truthfully she had nightmare the whole night and ended up leaving the guest room so that Mike could get some sleep himself. Still, the other girl didn't need to know that. They'd only just become friendly with one another after all, and even so she didn't like to worry others. Mike was barely coherent when she left, she could only hope he wouldn't ask any questions when she got home either.

Alicia let the matter go when one of the employee's walked over to them and took their order. The Rose Tea Café operated a little like a restaurant in that sense. The only bad thing is that after the waiter took their order neither woman spoke. Silence settled between them, making it a little uncomfortable before their tea was brought over. Tea pots were set on warmers and they settled into drinking their tea before small plates of finger sandwiches were delivered to the table moments later.

Morganna let out a low moan when she took a sip of her tea, delighted by both the taste and aroma. The strawberry blonde let out a giggle at the look of ecstasy on the other woman's face.

"You like your tea that much?" She asked teasingly, taking a sip of her own tea with a moan of her own.

"Yes I do indeed. It seems you agree," Morganna shot back with a smirk.

"I've never had this kind before, it's really good," Alicia said with a smile on her face.

"Tea is always good. There has never been a blend I haven't enjoyed in some capacity," the brunette said with a nod before taking another sip and letting out an exaggerated and much more sinful moan that made the other girl blush and hide her face behind her tea cup. Morganna couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Ahem, well I suppose we should begin discussing why I called you here," she finally began. The other woman's laughter settled down and she nodded.

"Let's get down to business then," she said before cracking a smile. "I mean, it must be somewhat important for you to actually have called."

"Hey, I said I was going to and I did," Alicia replied with pursed lips, only just holding back a childish pout from forming.

"Yes you did, didn't doubt you for a moment dear," Morganna replied back with a smirk, crossing her legs and sitting back in her chair.

"Well um. Actually the reason I called you here to talk is because, well this sound really stupid. I know next to nothing about Freddy's anymore," she admitted sheepishly.

"What? What do you mean exactly?" Morganna asked, perplexed as to what the woman was talking about.

"Well I was sick for so long and well I didn't exactly get updates about anything," she said with a shrug. "It's been almost thirteen years since I've been there and I haven't heard much about the place, but it looks like it's hit really hard times. I mean, Foxy is out of order too and I-"

"Wait. Do you even know about the bite? The bite of '87?" The brunette asked leaning forward in her chair now, elbows on the table and fingers coming together to form a bridge as thoughts ran through her head rapidly. How couldn't Alicia know about the bite?

"Huh? Bite of '87? What's that?" Alicia asked, her head tilting to the side and face giving way to a look of curiosity.

"How can you not know about-" Morganna started mumbling to herself rapidly. "I mean even- the news was everywhere. How could she not-"

"Morganna?" Alicia finally questioned when it was clear the other woman was caught up in mumbling her thoughts to herself.

"What- oh. Sorry, it's just I can't believe that you never heard of the bite of '87. I mean, it was everywhere on the news. The place was nearly closed down then and there," she finally said after coming back to herself. "Foxy... malfunctioned and the day security guard was too close and he ended up kind of… chomping the man's frontal lobe right off."

Alicia stared at her a moment, growing horror in her eyes.

"I was there, it wasn't his fault. It really was a freak malfunction," she said, defending the captain quickly knowing what kind of conclusion the other woman was making. She really wanted to mention how much that man had deserved to be hurt, but she couldn't exactly go around saying that she was glad about the bite, so she settled on a partial truth. "Besides, the guy wasn't doing his job right."

"Oh so- so it was just a one-time thing?" She asked, hesitantly. The thought of the animatronic hurting someone unsettled her and made her think maybe it was best the pizzeria was going to shut down if they had the potential to hurt people.

"It never happened again obviously, Foxy got put out of commission. Still- he never hurt any of us before. It really wasn't his fault. I was there that day, the guard was pushing us along pretty harshly and Foxy just froze, he fell forward onto the man and then tried to talk. It really wasn't his fault," Morganna insisted. "They didn't even try to fix him after that, just left him there to rot. I blame management for being so careless."

"I- well I suppose you're right," the other woman replied, appearing unsure despite her words.

"Your father didn't get rid of him for some reason, but he didn't fix him either. Foxy was- he was important to us as children, still is. We are partially who we are because of him so just-" she snapped before pausing, stopping entirely and taking a breath, letting frustration and anger leak out of her. "Sorry, you're entitled to your opinion. It's just- Foxy was more than just an animatronic, more than just a program to us."

"I-I remember that he was strangely understanding for a robot. I'm sorry, you're right, even if he can't feel he didn't deserve to be shut away like that. I don't know why my father took over the restaurant though, I actually don't even know if he's step foot in there since he bought the place," she said her hands going into her lap and wringing her hands.

"No- I'm sorry for snapping at you, you didn't know," Morganna repeated with a sigh. "I get a little defensive about the animatronics. They are the reason I went into the field of robotic engineering, even though I spend half my time doing programming work."

"Oh? Why's that?" The girl asked, surprisingly.

"Why's what?" Morganna asked, a little puzzled by the question. "Why did they inspire me, or why am I doing programming work?"

"Both," she replied simply with a smile. "I want to get to know you better after all."

"Well, okay then. So the animatronics are, or at least we thought that they were, different than most. They really are special, even being the old tech that they are. But they meant a lot to us in childhood and they inspired me. So yeah. As to the programming. Well, not too many places need someone versed in robotic engineering. I mostly give a few lectures at the local university and sometimes help out with projects there and the like," she said with a shrug. It wasn't much, but combined both jobs paid pretty well. Considering that the world was on a fast track to more and more technologies being used by the masses, well it wasn't that hard to realise that such jobs were needed more and more.

"Oh, wow! I didn't know you did so much," Alicia responded with a smile again.

"Well, it's not really that much," Morganna replied, sitting back in her chair again and scratching the back of her head as she looked away for a moment. "What do you do Missy?"

"Oh, well nothing very exciting. I mean I was sick for so long, so I couldn't even start doing anything till recently," she said with a nervous chuckle.

"So what are you doing then?" The brunette asked, hoping that she wasn't pushing too much, but she was curious about what their new friend did now.

"Umm, well. I dance, mostly just in the background for the local ballet theatre. Sometimes I teach the children, but that's it, nothing exciting," she replied after a while, looking away nervously. "I wanted to go into medicine, but Father- well I don't think I'm actually smart enough I guess."

"That's utter bullshit. If you want to be a doctor or a nurse or whatever, well then you should do it. I totally think you can. But even so, dancing isn't anything to be ashamed of," Morganna replied with a curt nod of her head.

"Thanks-" Alicia responded, but cut herself off when an older man came to a stop at their table.

"Mrs. Sinclair, your father would have you return home now," the man said subserviently, but it was clear that he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"I'm sorry Morganna, but I have to leave," the other woman sounded down, but it was clear she wasn't going against her father.

"Okay, I understand," Morganna replied, though she really didn't. Apparently Alicia's father had her on a leash that he tightened at will, which add another reason in her growing list of why she shouldn't like Mr. Sinclair. "Are you able to meet up another time?"

"Actually Miss. I was given instruction to invite you and your brother to dinner Monday evening," the butler, bodyguard, whatever he was guy said. Morganna carefully kept her face clear of the scowl that she wanted to give him.

"Oh? Why would Mr. Sinclair want to meet with me and my brother?" She asked, only just keeping her voice even and full of polite curiosity.

"I apologise Miss, but he did not share that information with me," he replied, though all she could think of was 'of course not.'

"Oh! It might be because I mentioned that you guys wanted to keep the pizzeria open and Mike is the night guard currently! Maybe if you guys meet him and tell him about how precious the animatronics are to you guys we can convince him to try and keep the place open!" Alicia interjected positively. Again it was hard for the brunette to keep a scowl off her face, the whole situation screamed that something bad was going to happen. Still she pulled on a false smile for the other girl's sake.

"Oh, alright. We'll be there then, Monday you said sir?" She asked, trying to remain polite instead of snide like she wanted to be.

"Yes Miss. Monday, and Sir would like you to be there by five that evening," he said with a polite little bow to her, stepping away from Alicia and herself when he finished. All she could think is that he was a cocky bastard of a butler, bodyguard, whatever he was. Both women stood up, and went for their bags to pay for the tea and finger sandwiches, since they hadn't even been there long enough to order proper lunch.

"Oh I got it Morganna!" Alicia said with a smile, pulling out a rather large wad of cash.

"Oh- I mean I can get it-" Morganna began, a little shocked by how much money the girl carried around, it was clear why she needed the butler, bodyguard, thing.

"Nope, it's alright. I'll see you Monday then!" The other woman said with a smile before she surprised Morganna by throwing her arms around her in a quick hug before she pulled back again and headed out the door with a wave.

"Alright, I'll see you…" She managed to get out, a little shocked as the woman walked away. She waved back a little slowly, cursing under her breath. Okay, she was officially mooning. The other woman was just too fucking adorable.

* * *

**AN :: I'm really sorry about this shitty chapter everyone. u.u The other day I was hit with an anxiety attack that literally would not go away, I spent around 8 hours just crying and being unable to do anything productive. So obviously I didn't get any writing done and we are all caught up to where I am with the story currently. Honestly it kind of fucked me up, since I haven't had an anxiety attack like this in almost a year, maybe a bit longer, and I almost couldn't deal. I guess maybe that's why I've been feeling so insecure about stuff lately, all the anxiety was lurking inside me waiting to attack. Anyways, enough about me. I wanted to get something out for you guys to read, since it's been a few days, and this is what I came up with. At the very least it's a bridge in the right direction to where I want it to go. I gotta say there are probably loads of mistakes here, but I'll go through it later. I'm going to finally get some sleep. **

**Truly thank you everyone for your reviews, follows, and favourites. I am, unfortunately, not lying when I say that this story is pretty much the only thing in my life that makes me happy at the moment, and it only makes me happier to know that you guys enjoy it too. So thank you so much everyone! It really does mean the world to me to hear from you all and know that you like everything so far. Anyways I hope you all have a wonderful day or evening as always, I am off to sleep for a few hours.**


	16. Another Day Gone

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

Mike had slept well, unknowing of his sister's turmoil throughout the night, or day rather. He didn't even remember when she had crawled into bed with him let alone left a few hours later. So when he woke he was relaxed, stretching out and laying there for a small time before forcing himself up and into the bathroom.

He drowsily went through his morning routine, showering, brushing his teeth, and doing other such business. Finally he pulled on some clothes and walked into the kitchen, rummaging through the refrigerator in search of something to eat. His eyes lit up when he saw some leftover pizza, he'd assumed they had eaten it all.

With a hum he warmed it up in the microwave and took a bite, moaning moments after. Really he wasn't sure if Chica's pizzas would help the pizzeria alone, but they really were sinfully delicious. He would gladly eat nothing but her pizzas and become a land whale if that was an opinion, though was sure that he'd be stopped by someone before it got to that point, at least he hoped he knew someone with that much sense.

With a sigh he wiped his hands off on his pants and went to grab his bag and hat to head off to the pizzeria. He'd slept in a lot, it had been seven o'clock in the evening by the time he'd woken up and his routine and food took another chunk of his time. His sleep schedule was all kinds of screwed up, but he supposed it didn't matter too much since his job was at night anyway. He didn't really have a personal life for the issue to mess up.

So for the sixth night that week he hoped into his car and headed to the pizzeria. Sure he'd be a bit early, but a manger was obviously above him and it couldn't hurt to give a good first impression.

Walking into the pizzeria he came face to face with the waitress from two evenings prior. The girl was bouncing on the balls of her feet, her short black hair swinging to and fro while she waited for something to do. She paused, stopping all movement for a moment before recognising him and smiling.

"Oh hey there Night Watch!" She said cheerfully with a wink. "What brings you in early today? I hope you didn't want any of the special pizzas 'cause they are all gone!"

"Oh, um no, I'm not here for pizza," he said with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head. "The boss called me in again, something about meeting the new day manager."

"Oh! You mean Ace then! He's pretty cool. I think I might actually like working here for the next two weeks with him in charge. Mrs. Medlock was such a sourpuss," she said with a scowl while sticking her tongue out.

"She didn't seem too bad…" Mike said trailing off. Really the woman had seemed more nervous and paranoid than anything else, but then again he didn't have day to day contact with her.

"Yeah I guess she wasn't as bad as Mr. Becker. Still she was something else, didn't give us any direction and hid away during the day. I mean, we don't have a day guard any more so that was supposed to be her job, instead it fell on all of us," she said with a sigh.

"Wait, we don't have a day guard at all?" He asked, he thought that a place like Freddy's would be more cautious, especially considering it's less than stellar past.

"Nope! The last guard we had was a few months ago and he just up and left during his shift. Mr. Becker said that we didn't need a day guard anyway; the manager could just keep an eye on things. Mrs. Medlock wasn't exactly the most vigilant. I mean she doesn't even like kids or anyone really," she said with a shake of her head and a sigh. "Never understood why she chooses to work here, but whatever."

"That's- well it's not good," He replied, struggling with what to say.

"Anyway, you should probably be on your way to see the boss man there Mike," she said with a salute.

"Yeah, thanks for umm…" he started to say before pausing, frustrated with himself. He could never figure out how to converse with people he didn't know well.

"You okay there Mike," She asked him, a little concerned for the quiet man.

"Yeah, umm, just thanks Jamie. It was nice to talk to you again," he said with a slight wince, hating how hard it was for him to be social and normal at the same time instead of awkward.

"Oh hey! You remembered my name. Heh, it was nice to talk to you too. You're pretty okay for an old man," she said, lightly punching his arm. "Now go on to boss man's office."

With that the girl was off to visit a few of the tables with a cheerful parting wave and a giggle when she heard him mumble out quietly, 'I'm not that old.'

With a small smile he headed off to the bosses office. Jamie was nice and kind of reminded him of a less sardonic younger Morganna. A thought that made him laugh a bit before reigning himself in and knocking on the door.

"Come in," the boss's voice sounded from behind the door simply. Mike noted that he sounded like he was in a good mood that was good at least.

"Ahh! Michael, good you're here. Come in, please take a seat," he said motioning towards the unoccupied chair. Mike sat down a little nervously, glancing sideways at the other man.

"Hello there Mr. Schmidt. My name is Ace Devot, it's nice to meet you," the man said, holding out a hand to him and smiling, red eyes meeting Mike's blue.

"Oh umm, yes. It nice to meet you sir," Mike replied, shaking the other man's hand nervously.

"No need to be nervous Mr. Schmidt. Please feel free to call me Ace," he told the other, not bothered by Mike's nervousness. Mike would be lying if he couldn't help but agree with Jamie's statement, Ace did seem like a really cool guy. Though the red eyes were a little out of the ordinary, it was clear that maybe it was health related, considering the other man was abnormally pale as well. Heck, he was paler than Morganna and himself, and they both got no sun at all.

"Uh, yes sir. I mean Ace. It's uh, nice to meet you. You can call me Mike, if you want," he got out after a few moments of silence, mentally berating himself for repeating himself. The other man simply smiled with a nod and didn't comment; instead he turned to the boss, folding his hands in his lap.

"Alright then, so now Mike and me are here Mr. Becker, what did you want to discuss?" The man asked, taking control of the room quite easily despite the fact that it was Mr. Becker's office.

"Ah yes, down to business, right boys? I just wanted to make sure that you both were free for this Monday. Actually Michael I wanted to ask if you could bring that sister in," he started before looking a little nervous. "I mean, we can't pay her, but you said that she was a mechanic or something correct?"

"She's uh. Well she's actually a robotic engineer so," he trailed off, unsure what the man was trying to ask.

"Ah, even better. Then she'd know wiring and the like right? Could you bring her in and get her to take a look at the wiring in this place? We really don't have the money to bring in a professional," he said, trying to sound apologetic but failing miserably.

"I can ask her sir, but there isn't a guarantee she'll say yes," he pointed out.

"Just asking will be enough son, thank you. Besides that though I'd like you two to check the building itself, we need to make sure there isn't any mould anywhere or any damage to the structure of the building itself," he said with a nod.

"Um sir? Shouldn't that have been checked every few months?" Mike asked, feeling a little concerned. Really, they were just letting the place fall apart. He shrunk under the glare the boss started to give him at his utterance.

"Sir, I assure you me and Mike here will get it done," Ace spoke up with a smile, pulling Mr. Becker's attention away from Mike. Mike could not feel any more grateful towards the man, the glare he'd received shook him enough, he didn't want to know what the boss would have said to him.

"That's what I wanted to hear. Alright Michael, why don't you show Mr. Devot around? Introduce him to the band, show him around the party room. Just stay out of the way of the customers of course," the man said, effectively dismissing them both.

Both men stood and headed towards the hallway. Mike hesitated, unsure what to say or what to do. He hated being thrown into new situation with no real forewarning.

"Lead the way Mike," Ace said with a smile, he spoke encouragingly, and sure that meant that he realised Mike was having trouble, but he couldn't help but appreciate the effort the man was going to help him along instead of just leaving. It wasn't like Mike had to give him a tour, it was just a suggestion.

"Um, well there isn't very much to this place. It's not very big," Mike began before he pointed down the hallway. "There's the security office I work at and the emergency exits."

They walked down the hallway and Mike pointed out the main rooms, the broom closet, where the kitchen was, and then they got to the party room.

"Well there's the stage, obviously. You know the characters, right?" He turned towards the other man to catch him nodding.

"Yup. They are rather iconic aren't they? Oh hey, what's over there?" He asked, walking off towards whatever had caught his interest. Mike followed, biting his lip as the man pulled back the curtain to Pirate's Cove, only pausing to read the out of order sign for a moment.

"Oh that's Pirate's Cove. It's shut down though," Mike said, watching the other man hoist himself up onto the stage. "Uh sir?"

"Why is it out of order?" The man asked from behind the curtains, his footsteps sounding slowly, cautiously stepping the darkness of the Cove. Mike bit his lip, debating telling the man to step out of the cove or to climb up and turn on the light. In the end he hoisted himself up onto the stage and made his way to the practically hidden light switch. Flipping it the cove was visible, in all its tattered glory.

"There was an incident a long time ago and they just never fixed him," Mike said evasively, not wanting to tell his new manager about the bite if he didn't have to.

"The bite of… what was it, '87 right? But that was just some freak malfunction right?" The man asked, looking down at the seemingly offline fox.

"It was, it wasn't Foxy's fault. They should've fixed him," Mike replied, a little anger behind his voice, though he tried to keep it back.

"Was he your favourite?" Ace asked, looking directly at Mike now.

"He is my favourite," the brunette replied back. The other man smiled a bit at the response.

"I don't blame you. Pirates are pretty cool after all. I wish I'd been able to come here as a child, see this place's glory days," Ace replied with a disappointed sigh. "I wish this place didn't have to close down. I mean, it really just needs an upgrade or something."

"I'd- um. Well me and my sister really loved this place as kids and we don't want to see it closed down either," Mike said with a sigh.

"Would you be interested in helping me then? I was going to try to talk to Mr. Becker and Mr. Sinclair about keeping this place open," he said with another smile on his face. Mike was a little confused truthfully though, Ace had just said that he hadn't been able to come to Freddy's as a child and he wanted to save it? It wasn't a bad thing, but he was curious as to why the man was so interested.

"Umm, forgive me for asking, but why do you want to save Freddy's? You just said you didn't come here as a kid," Mike pointed out.

"Yes well, my father worked at Fredbears, the previous location. He was the mechanic back then, before they realised he didn't know shit about what he was doing and was generally just a lazy bastard," Ace said a little harshly, reeling himself in. "Ahem, sorry. Anyways, ever since I found out that he worked at the old dinner I kind of wanted to come here. So I'm finally here only to find the place is going out of business."

"Oh well that's…" Mike trailed off not sure how to respond. Ace was nice, but he was a little overwhelming and Mike wasn't sure how to respond to the man just yet.

"So how about it Mike? Would you and your sister be interested in trying to help out the restaurant? Mainly I probably only need you guys to speak to Mr. Sinclair with me, maybe tell him how much this place meant to you as children," he said, pursing his lips. "Truthfully I'm not sure what to do, but where there is a will there is a way, right?"

"We really do love Freddy's… so if you need us for something then just give me a call," Mike replied after a moment, a hesitant smile on his face. It was good that they would have someone else to brainstorm with, there wasn't much that he was coming up with on his own and they had limited time.

"I think we may have a chance to save this place really. I mean, the customers are raving over the fact that the cooks changed the recipe to the pizza or something today. If we can keep it up then before two weeks is up we can talk to Sinclair and see if he'll agree to letting the place stay open on a trial basis, then we'd just have to keep business up!" The man spoke excitedly, smiling all the while. He turned back to Mike, "So I can count on you chief?"

"Uhhh chief?" Mike questioned nervously.

"Yeah. Chief as in, chief of security. I mean, there isn't a day guard and I'm supposed to do his job, so that makes me your subordinate in a way, since you've been here longer," Ace replied, smile not fading.

"Oh, umm. But you're a manager, and I'm-" Mike started muttering, brows furrowed.

"Hey no need to be nervous there Mike. Mr. Becker is the man in charge, but I'm really just like you. I mean, come two weeks from now if we don't work together, then we'll both be out of a job, yeah?" The man pointed out. Mike nodded and the other man continued speaking. "So for at least those two weeks, let's drop the whole hierarchy. Then we can just focus on working together."

The man moved to turn off the light then, patting Mike's back as he walked past in a friendly gesture. Turning off the light he ducked under the purple curtains, leaving the cove. Mike stood there for a moment, kind of floored by how friendly and understanding the new manager was compared to the ex-day manager Mrs. Medlock and Mr. Becker both. Jamie wasn't lying when she said he was a pretty cool guy.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts he left the cove himself, glancing back to see Foxy's eyes flicker in the darkness. He had suspected that Ace had gotten close enough to bring the animatronic online.

"See you later Foxy," he whispered quietly before hopping off the stage and looking around for the other man, wondering for a second where he went before feeling something on his back and letting out a shriek.

"Woah there Mike, just me. Didn't mean to scare you," Ace said, laughing a bit at the other man's fright while looking at least a little apologetic. He really hadn't meant to scare the other man.

"It's-it's alright," Mike said in defeat. It seemed like everyone he knew, new and old, were trying to give him a heart attack.

"I'm going to head on home. Jamie just let me know that the last customer left and the Janitors are on the way in before she left, so I was just letting you know," he said, looking more apologetic now that his laughter had subsided.

"Oh, alright sir, I mean Ace. I'll see you in the morning then," Mike replied, pulling on a smile.

"See you in the morning," he said with another smile of his own in kind before heading towards the doors, leaving the restaurant as both janitors came in.

Mike was slightly surprised when Walter waved him over, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Hey Mike, who was that? Never seen his face here before."

"Oh, that was Ace Devot. Mrs. Medlock quit the other day," Mike replied, not quite holding back curiosity in his voice since he didn't really know why the woman had left. She wasn't all that old, being probably around the age of fifty, so it was a little concerning, even if he didn't know her well. He always felt bad when people were diagnosed with health problems or had someone close to them fall ill. He hoped that wasn't the case, but he supposed he had no way of knowing.

"Ah, Medlock up and quit. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. Ellen's been working here as long as I have, always said she hated it," the man commented with a shrug.

"Why'd she stay if she hated working here so much?" Mike knew he was prying, but the man seemed open to conversation and he really was curious.

"Hell if I know," the older man responded with a shrug, "though I don't blame her, having to deal with the young 'uns every day. Every generation gets worse and worse, with few exceptions."

"That old bat is paranoid up the kazoo," the younger man supplied, getting a side glare from his grandfather. "What? She was, always going on about how she saw ghosts or something."

"Ghosts?" Mike questioned, prying for more information.

"Enough chit-chat boys, if you want to talk, do it while you're working. We have two hours to make this place look decent," Walter grunted, pushing by them both to begin his work.

Mike and the younger man started toward the supply closet in silence at first, before Mike attempted to strike up a conversation.

"So, umm…" Mike began, but utterly failing at bringing up anything to say.

"My name is Fritz. I'm 18 years old and just graduated high school. I work here with my grandpa because it seemed like easy money," the younger man replied, running a hand through his copper hair before pushing round glasses up further on the bridge of his nose. "Is that all you wanted to ask?"

Mike stood there for a second, kind of dumb founded by how quickly the other man went through the questions he was going to ask. Fritz didn't skip a beat, grabbing what they needed and started heading towards the bathroom first before Mike was able to collect himself.

"Well yes I guess, I'm-"

"You're Mike Schmidt, the wonder guard that's survived this place somehow. Who my grandfather actually likes better than me," the younger man replied just as quick as he turned to grab the scrub brush for the toilets. He tossed Mike the broom and got to work without waiting for a reply.

"I don't think he likes me more than you. Its just- you were a little-"

"I don't like working here Mike. It's summertime and this is the only time some of my friends are online to play Everquest so I get a little rude," he said, before letting out a sigh. "I know I should be nicer, since he's my grandpa and all, but I could've taken a daytime job. This place is creepy at night and the animatronics…"

"Why don't you just tell him that you don't want to work here?" Mike asked, finally able to get a word in without being cut off or sounding too awkward.

"Old man won't take no for an answer. I think he just doesn't want to be alone here at night, they weren't going to hire a second janitor at first," Fritz said, moving from stall to stall as he talked.

"Oh," Mike said, unsure what else to say to the man.

"I'm sorry for acting like such a jerk. I'm actually glad you stuck around and that you help out. We should have at least a team of three. I mean, even when I do work fast we've never gotten the place fully cleaned," Fritz said with a sigh and shake of his head. He grabbed the mope and bucket next, starting on the part of the room that Mike had already swept.

"It's alright. I mean, this place isn't… well the management isn't good at all," Mike said, not wanting to insult the restaurant itself, since really it was those in charge that were running it to the ground.

"Heh, you're telling me. Why were you so interested in Mrs. Medlock by the way?" He asked, pausing in his work to look up at Mike.

"It was just kind of odd I guess, quitting out of the blue like that. I mean, the place is only going to stay open for another two weeks," Mike pointed out again.

"Yeah I guess it is a little weird. But seriously that lady was something else. She was always saying that she saw ghosts throughout the restaurant until she got on some medication. I'm surprised she didn't quit earlier, she hated kids," he replied with a shrug.

"Why'd she even work here in the first place if she didn't like kids? I mean, the slogan of Freddy's is 'a magical place for children and adults alike,'" Mike said with a sigh, shaking his head.

"Gramps mentioned something once about her working at the old restaurant as a waitress, so coming here gave her a major pay raise. I guess that's good enough reason for anyone," he said with a shrug.

"Hey Mike, I can finish up here, can you go and get the stage again… and maybe the front area of party room? I really don't want to go near the animatronics if I can help it," Fritz asked, feeling more at ease around the guard since they'd been speaking now.

"Yeah, I'll go take care of that area," Mike said with a nod, pausing for a moment, like he wanted to say something else, but stopped himself and shook his head. Maybe someday he could prove to Fritz the animatronics weren't so bad, but for now he had a job to do.

He spent the rest of the evening before midnight cleaning the stage and around the stage, making it look ten times better than it had been. Though it was sad it had gotten in such a state, Mike could say there was a kind of satisfaction in seeing how much his work affected the look of the place. Maybe the little things would really make the difference.

He gave a wave to Fritz and Walter on their way out and finished up what he was doing before putting everything away and grabbing his stuff from the office like he had he previous night, he waited there for a few minutes, no phone call came through this time. He shook his head and headed off back into the dining area, hearing a quick knock on the entrance doors.

His brows furrowed as he let Morganna in, she looked a little frazzled and very tired. It was concerning to see her so out of sorts.

"H-Hey Mikey," she said, though she didn't move away from the door. Biting her lip she debated on what to say first.

"How was lunch with Alicia?" Mike asked after a moment of silence, figuring that he'd give her something to start with. It was obvious she had a few things to tell him.

"It was fine, good I guess. She didn't really know much about the situation though. I mean- she didn't even know about the Bite of '87. We are, however, apparently invited to dinner by Mr. Sinclair," she said, shifting her weight to one side and crossing her arms.

"What? Uh, what does he want with us?" He asked, confused as to why one of the wealthiest people in the city would want them at dinner, even if he did work at a place the man owned.

"Don't know. Her butler, body guard, guy didn't have any answers. Just that we should be there Monday at five," she said with a frown. "How'd the meeting with the new manager go?"

"Well actually. He was actually really nice. He actually wants to help keep this place open too. He asked if he could call on us if he went to talk to Mr. Sinclair."

"I hope you told him absolutely fucking yes," Morganna replied with a little grin. "Anyone we can get on this save Freddy's thing is welcome. I mean, it's going to be difficult enough without others wanting it too."

"I told him to give me a call when needed. Also apparently Chica's pizzas went over well enough that there weren't any left at the end of the day, so that plan was the start of a potential success too," he mentioned with a nod.

"Alright! So we got a new backer for the plan, Chica's pizzas are a must go…" she started enthusiastically before trailing off. Her face fell and she pursed her lips for a moment before biting her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

"Morganna?"

"We need to check the back room again Mikey," she replied.

"Why?" He asked, his face a bit pale at the thought.

"I need to check something. Umm, you don't have to come in with me, if you could go get the others and wait here, that would be great," she said, walking away afterwards, not waiting for a response. Silently she walked to the door to the backstage room, biting her lip, hesitating a moment before opening the door and stepping into the room and flipping on the light.

Like before the Golden Freddy costume was slumped over in the corner, head balancing almost abnormally where the neck would be. Gathering herself she walked towards it, pulling the head off and coughing at the still terrible smell that came from it. She reached into suit, unable to see in it due to the darkness of the room, even with the lights on it was too dark to see into the recess of the suit.

She winced, her hand scrapping against cross wires again. She closed her eyes, breathing deep as her hand came into contact with fabric. She grabbed it, pulling it up and out of the suit and into the light. Her eyes widened when she saw it- it wasn't Mikey's backpack this time. No- Mikey's backpack had been a stained blue. This was hers, a now stained and tattered dirty maroon colour.

She pulled herself together, grabbing it and quickly leaving the backstage room, only pausing for a moment to shut off the lights. The animatronics and Mike were all gathered in the party room, save for one.

"Where's Chica?" She asked, pushing away the feeling of panic and dread for the moment.

"She went to get started on the pizza's again. They went over so well today!" Bonnie was the one to reply.

Morganna placed the bag on the table and quickly sat in a chair, knowing that if she stayed on her feet any longer her knees were going to give out on her.

"That's-"

"Yeah. This is my backpack. This is- I didn't open it yet," she said, swallowing thickly. She went to open it, but Mike reached out and did so. His hands were trembling slightly, but less than hers were. His eyes widened at the contents and a moment later he poured them out onto the table.

Pictures fell onto the table with a flutter, picture after picture. Her eyes widened as she pulled one over and saw that it was a picture of her and Mikey in school, after they had moved. Each one was them in a different place. The times they went to the park, her at her late night gas station job, Mikey at the library in middle school.

"Are these pictures of ye two?" Foxy was the first to speak, looking over Morganna's shoulder.

Mike stood there in horror for a moment, gulping to try and reply. He opened his mouth, but nothing would come out.

"How- what was- I don't," Morganna couldn't comprehend that their childhood bogeyman hadn't ever left their lives, and they hadn't even realised it. She flinched and looked around the room quickly, could he be lurking in the shadows there too?

"How could we not have realised? Wait-" Mike began before stopping and reaching forward to grab a white envelope. On the front, written in purple were the words _'It's me!' _a simple smiley face painted by the words. Wordlessly he opened it, and read its contents.

_Hello dear Mikey and Morg! Don't worry dear boy and girl; you have a chance to save yourselves. I give you these pictures to prove that I could have killed you any time from the day you moved until presently. I've always known where you were, ever since I recovered from my unfortunate accident but I have stayed my hand. You got away once, won our first game, so let's us see if you can again! You'll find out what this new game entails tomorrow, until then rest well. _

His vision swarmed and he only just managed to lean against the table, he could vaguely feel metal hands lowering him to a chair, not letting him fall.

Morganna grabbed the letter from where he dropped it on the table, reading its contents, her face taking on a green tint by the end. She dropped the letter, not protesting when Bonnie grabbed it and read its contents before passing it to Freddy.

"We won't let this guy do anything to ye two," Foxy began, his good hand running up and down Mike's arm in a comforting motion that the man leaned into unconsciously.

"He's right, we won't let anyone harm the either of you. We are family after all," Bonnie said next, crouching down next to Morganna, large hands taking her unresponsive ones into his. Her teary eyes met his and she practically launched herself into the bunny's arms.

For a few minutes she sobbed before choking back tears and rubbing her eyes to rid herself of them. She had to be strong, for Mikey, for the others, and for herself. Breaking down wouldn't help, not when there was so much wrong. She'd already done that the night before.

"We need to figure out who this man is and put a stop to him," she said, her voice a little raspy.

"Was this the backpack you found the other day Morganna?" Freddy asked, having kept quiet while he thought. She shook her head and Freddy paused for a moment, thinking.

"The backpack that was in that suit was Mikey's, he's been here, multiple times. But I- I still remember his face. He's had to be very careful to stay unseen and hidden all these years," she said, biting her lip again and wincing as she opened a cut. She chocked down her feelings, not letting the fear clawing at her mind in, focusing on the physical feeling rather than her thoughts.

"I don't know what he wants, but we won't let his plan succeed, whatever it may be," Freddy said as he reached for a napkin, handing it to Morganna. "You're bleeding Missy."

"Th-Thanks Freddy," was all she managed to get out. She took it and dabbed at the cut on her lip, only just refraining from biting down on it more as she pushed away more and more thoughts.

"Mikey, are ye going to be alright lad?" Foxy asked the man quietly, noticing how pale and lost he looked.

"I- maybe," was all he could get out. He was scared, for himself, for Morganna, for all of the children that the man could have hurt. He was more than terrified though, he was horrified at himself. The fact that they never told anyone about the man, the fact that the man was still alive and well, it was their fault if he hurt anyone, and that thought was what made him feel the sickest.

He could feel his insides turn to ice the more he thought about it. They didn't know what that man did to his victims, just knew that he took them into the backstage room and had a knife. Did he just kill? Did he torture his victims? Did he do something even worse? Not knowing was somehow worse than if they had been hurt or killed. He couldn't help the tears that welled up behind his eyes, the trembling that ran through his limbs.

The fox watched on in sadness, knowing that his friend, his first Matey, was beating himself up over not saying anything. Looking over at Morganna, he could tell she was thinking much of the same, her hand trembling violently as she wiped at her bleeding lip.

All of the animatronics felt helpless, not knowing what to do or say to the twins, knowing that they couldn't protect them if something happened outside of the pizzeria. They couldn't leave the place after all, and the twins couldn't just stay there. It was often they felt helpless, being unable to defend themselves from rough treatment, unable to protest being shut off, unable to go against their programming more than half the time, but this feeling was worse. Knowing that something could happen to people they cared about, that was the worst.

Freddy was suddenly very glad that Chica was in the kitchen, Bonnie was hot headed, but he rarely acted without thought. Chica was emotionally driven, a true mother hen. There was no telling what she'd do sometimes.

"I have to go," Morganna said suddenly, standing up quickly and almost falling right back down.

"Morg, I-"

"No, it's half past five. I really have to go before your manager gets here Mikey. Just- we just have to be careful, we can't-" she stopped speaking, shaking her head. "I'll think of something. Just, come back to my place Mikey. Don't keep me waiting, alright?"

Mike looked at her worriedly, she had gathered herself together, her words no longer coming out uncertainly, but that jut worried him more. She always had a habit of pushing aside feelings only to have them hurt her worse later. He nodded none the less, watching her leave.

With heels clicking on the floor she walked out of the restaurant, pausing a moment to take a look at the still dark sky. Thankfully it wasn't raining, but it was still a little chilly.

"Who are you?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin when a voice interrupted her observations, quickly seeking out who had said that. A pale man stood a few paces in front of her looking puzzled.

"Holy fucking hell! Who the fuck are you?" She asked, shooting the man a nasty look.

"Uh, I'm the new manager here, though I asked you who you were first," he said eyebrows raised.

"Umm-"

"Oh!" He exclaimed suddenly, before Morganna could figure out what to say that wouldn't get Mike in trouble. "You're Mike's sister aren't you? I mean, you look like him. What are you doing here though?"

"I- uhhh Mike needed food?" She said, though it came out as a question. "Now if you-" She stopped herself, realising suddenly that she probably shouldn't let him waltz in to see Mike and the animatronics conversing like friends. There was nothing good she could think of that could come from someone in management knowing exactly how sentient the animatronics were.

"What are you doing here so early anyway?" She settled on asking, hoping that she could lead him into conversation long enough for it to hit six o'clock.

"Well it's my first day and all actually on the clock, so I thought I'd get a head start," he said with a shrug.

"You're only going to be here for like another two weeks though," she pointed out; there wasn't really any reason for the man to be so dedicated.

"I'd like it to be longer than that though," he replied. "Mike said that you both want the place to stay open too, isn't that right?"

"Well yeah, but it's not likely. Don't tell Mike that though. He's an optimist until the end," she admitted, there wasn't really any reason not to be candid that she could see. The other man cracked a smile.

"He's passionate though and sometimes drive is all you need," he said with a shrug. "I'm Ace by the way. Ace Devot."

"Morganna, it's nice to meet you I guess. Even though you nearly gave me a fucking heart attack," she said with a sigh, arms crossing in front of her.

"Sorry about that doll, if it makes you feel any better I accidentally frightened your brother earlier too," he said with a laugh.

"What did you just call me?" She asked, narrowed eyes and a slight scowl on her face.

"Huh? Oh, doll. 'Cause you kind of look like one," he said with a smile and a wink.

"Are you hitting on me?" She asked bluntly, shifting her weight to one side with an unimpressed look on her face. He laughed a small bit at the look she was giving him.

"Hmm, I wonder," he said, trying to look innocent. It was, actually a little funny, and she couldn't help but let a laugh out.

"Alright, you're charming I'll give you that. But I'm not interested lover boy," she said, her smile disappearing. No, she had been distracted for a moment, but the worry she felt was still bubbling at the back of her thoughts, stewing.

"Everything alright? You look a little pale," he said, smile falling off his own face.

"Yeah I just-"

"Morg?" Mike had opened the door to the pizzeria, only having seen Morganna from where he was. Well, that was until she moved to the side so that he could see Ace there as well. "Oh ah, hello sir."

"Hello Mike! Its Ace remember?" He replied with a smile. "You can go ahead and go now. I won't tell Becker about your sister being here."

"Uh, thanks," he said with a nod, letting the other man walk past him into the building.

"Where'd you put the backpack?" Morganna asked as soon as the door closed.

"I had Freddy put it back into the suit, I-" He bit his lip, not wanting to admit he could not bring himself to step into the backroom again.

"Alright, let's get back to my apartment then. I'll feel safer knowing that we'll be behind locked doors," she said with a sigh. They needed to get some sleep, there was no telling what kind of game that man wanted to play, let alone when he'd start. They had to be prepared for anything.

* * *

**AN :: Not going to lie, I'm not a big fan of this chapter either, but a lot of important stuff is happening at least. So we have some new named characters and some hints to where the story is heading, so I suppose I'll be satisfied with that. I'm actually really excited to write the next chapter though, so hopefully it will come out really well!**

**Thanks again everyone for your kind comments! I'm feeling loads better than I did the other day and I got sleep... after spending like 10 hours watching Rebornica's stream this weekend. But sleep none the less. Really though, thank you for caring everyone, I really appreciate it. n.n As always I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and will continue to enjoy the story. Thank you for reading and I hope your day or night is a wonderful one!**


	17. The Toughest Night of All

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

The first thing Morganna did upon entering her apartment was grab a kitchen knife before going through the entire space, checking every dark corner that someone could hide in. When Mike knocked on the door mere minutes later she nearly jumped out of her skin, slowly opening the door, knife still in hand.

"What- Morg, what are you doing?" He asked, flinching when he realised what she had in her hand.

"Checking the apartment for purple loving murderers," she replied stoically. "One of the pictures was of me sleeping on the couch Mikey, he's been here and I never noticed a break in before, no sign of it even. I'm just making sure the bastard isn't hiding anywhere."

Mike nodded, closing the door behind him, locking and bolting it shut. Morganna left the room, coming back in moments later with a kitchen chair in hand, shoving it under the door knob. If she was truthful, even with that she felt unsafe. Then there was the window in her bedroom…

Mike watched her head toward her bedroom, confused for a moment before he heard a scrapping noise at first.

"Mikey! I need your help moving this," she said, grunting a little. Mike walked in the room, watching a little bemused as she tried, and clearly failed, to move her dresser in front of the window that the fire escape was at. Okay it was a little dangerous, but it was that or have a potential murderer get into the apartment to kill them, and truthfully painful or not both of them would rather die in a freak fire.

So together the moved the dresser and collapsed onto her bed. Mike turned towards her, his face full of concern again.

"Are you alright?" He asked quietly, watching a scowl come on her face.

"I'm fine Mikey," she said tersely, bringing her hands up to her eyes and rubbing at them.

"You always say that I lie when I use that word," he remarked quietly. "I think you lie when you use it too."

She looked away from him, turning onto her side. "Shut up Mikey, I am fine. This is your entire fault anyway. You had to get a job at Freddy Fucking Fazbear's," she said harshly.

"It's not!" He exclaimed loudly, flinching at his own loudness. He lowered his voice, "This man has been following us our whole lives apparently, he would've revealed himself to us eventually."

"He probably would have just killed us eventually you mean," she said, letting out a bitter laugh. She laughed until it started sounding hysterical, slightly scaring him like she had the night she'd broken down. "I think I would prefer him just killing me, rather than feeling this… this paranoia."

"Morg-"

"No, just go Michael. I am done talking to you tonight. I just want to sleep," she said, no intonation to her words at all. She didn't look at him as he slid off the bed, his face displaying the hurt he felt plainly. He went to leave, pausing only when he noticed a note taped to the back of her door. A note that had purple ink and the words 'Me Again!' written on them with another smiley face.

Shakily he opened it:

_Hello Schmidts! My, my, you get two letters from me in just one night! Aren't you lucky? I suppose I should be fair and let you know that the game doesn't start until tomorrow. Now I won't tell you exactly when or what the game will be, but in exchange I'll give you a promise of safety in your homes. From this point on I will not enter either of your apartments with the intent to kill you there. So you have a safe zone away from the game. Good luck tomorrow! I know you won't disappoint me. _

"Morg-"

"I said go Michael!" She practically screamed, glaring over her shoulder at him before her eyes widened upon seeing what was in his hands. "What is that?"

"A note, from that man. Here, just," he held it out to her. She read it quickly before her hand started rubbing at her face tiredly.

"I-I don't trust this in the slightest, but for the moment I think we can believe he won't sneak in and try to kill us I guess," she said with a sigh. "Just- we need to be careful. I-I'm not leaving the apartment other than to go to the pizzeria with you."

"I won't either. Let's, let's just try to get through this. Just, don't push me away Morg. We need to work together," he said, looking at her hopefully.

She looked away, wiping the tears welling up in her eyes before they spilt, sniffling a little before nodding. "Yeah, just go get ready for bed. Then get back in here."

With that both twins did their nightly routines shakily, trembling limbs and all. Both worried and only just managing not to fall apart at the seams as they finally crawled under sheets and lights were turned off.

"Love you Mikey, I'm sorry for pushing you away," Morganna whispered in the darkness, feeling ashamed by her earlier words. There was no way she'd get through any of this without him.

"I love you too Morg. It's alright, I'll always be here for you," he replied quietly, pulling her into a hug and rubbing her back as he felt her shoulders tremble from silent sobs. It wasn't long before they both feel asleep.

* * *

The twins slept through the night, though it wasn't quite restful. Both frequently moved in the bed, waking up suddenly from nightmares or being woken by the other kicking at them in the throes of the other's dreams. Both ended up not even getting out of bed until nearly eight o'clock in the evening. Neither entertained thoughts of leaving the apartment until they needed to, so every time they woke up they turned over and attempted to get back to sleep again.

Upon finally waking, they both went through routines again drearily, taking far more time than they would have any other day. Eating a little and mostly drinking tea, they spent the evening before Mike's shift silently reading and attempting not to think about the man who could potentially murder them. There wasn't anything they could do about him, neither were disillusioned enough to think the police could help them.

Finally Mike left the apartment complex later than expected, heading to the pizzeria around half past eleven instead of earlier. He knew he woudn't have time to help out the Smiths, but he also knew he wouldn't have been much help in his state either.

Walking into Freddy's, he gave a little wave to Fritz, who was nearby wiping down some of the chairs. The red head frowned at him, brows furrowed.

"You look like shit. Are you alright there Mike?" He asked in concern.

Mike nodded despite the fact that he was not fine at all. "Yeah, I'm just a little under the weather."

"Maybe you should call Becker? Tell him you're too sick to be here. You seriously look like you're about to pass out," Fritz continued, still frowning at the other man.

"Really, I'll be alright. Thanks for your concern Fritz, I-I'm just going to head to security office now," he said with a sigh.

"All right man, I'll let grandpa know you said bye."

"Thanks, night," Mike said tiredly, heading down the hallway to the office.

With a shaky sigh he collapsed into the chair. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again and reaching towards the security moniter, pausing when he felt something on the back of the screen. Turning it around he saw another note. This one was just a simple piece of paper that said, 'Good Luck!' Of course it was written in purple ink.

What was it supposed to mean? Suddenly feeling scared he turned on the screen, flipping through the different camera's seeing nothing out of the ordinary. He watched the security feed as Walter and Frtiz left the restaurant at about ten till midnight. He jumped again, cursing as his phone blared again and headed towards the doors to let Morg in.

Opening the door he noted that she might look a little worse than him even, her hair ruffled and eyes red with deep bags under them. She brushed past him, going towards the band at first while he locked the doors.

"Morg, I think we should start the night off back in the security office. I mean, he said…" Mike trailed off, biting his lip.

"His game starts tonight apparently. You're right, we need to be cautious and keep any eye out for him. Man I wish I owned a gun," she said with a sigh, following Mike back to the security office, jumping as an alarm when off at midnight.

Mike sat in the chair and Morganna leaned over the back of it as he flipped through the cameras. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, though the band was still on stage at the moment. She did note the power readings in the corner of the screen.

"Wait, this place has limited power? What the hell?" She asked, a confused look on her face.

"Oh, yeah. The doors operate on power too. They are pretty cheap," Mike replied, setting down the monitor with a sigh.

"Really though? Management knows that the night security has to deal with murderous animatronics and they give you limited power? Wow, Fazbear Entertainment is even more fucked up than I realised," she commented with a shake of her head, unbelieving how terrible those in charge of the place were.

For the next few minutes they took stock of the restaurant, making sure to note that there didn't seem to be anyone in the darkened building save for them. Both jumped when they heard metal footsteps in the hallway suddenly. Morganna flickered on the light, smiling a little when she saw Bonnie.

"Hey Bonnie you-"

"Y-Yo-You sh-shouldn't be br-breaking the ru-rules. Being out-out of your-your su-suit isn't-isn't allowed here at-at Fre-Freddy Faz-azbears," the bunny animatronic cut her off, his voice glitching badly.

Morganna's eyes widened, watching as her friend's hand reached out towards her, attempting to grab her, before the door slammed down between them. She stood there in shock a moment before turning towards Mike, who still had his hand on the button to close the door. His eyes were wide as well, full of slight panic.

"Was that just-"

"That's what he meant. That's what that fucker meant!" Mike swore, quickly turning to the other door and pressing the light, sighing in relief when he didn't' see Chica. He pressed the door light on the other side again and then the door button again when he saw Bonnie was gone. He quickly pulled up the monitor, cycling through quickly to take note of where everyone was.

"Mikey?" Morganna asked, unsure what was happening.

"This is his game. He messed with him, he messed with our family," Mike said, anger coursing through him, pushing back the panic that would have ensued otherwise. "He made it like my first few nights here, they think we're endoskeletons."

"So if they catch us we're dead? Nothing will get through to them?" Morganna asked, biting her lip, unsure of what she should do.

"They'll stuff us into one of the spare suits. What we need to do is keep calm and get through the night," he replied, breathing deeply. "I don't think what he did to them will let them see us as we are at the moment, the way Bonnie spoke, he must've overridden something."

"Alright, so we have to balance power usage with keeping an eye out on all of them," she said, biting her lip as she flickered the light into the east hall. Quickly she closed the door, before freaking out a little. "Fuck you duck! Go the fuck away before I fucking rip your beak off and shove it down your throat!"

"Morg! It's not her fault, just focus here," Mike said shaking his head as he pulled up the view of Pirates Cove again.

"F-Fine, oh god, why does she have to look at me like that?" Morganna said with a shiver. She resisted the need to check on the chicken again, instead checking the west hallway for Bonnie before checking to see if Chica was still there. She let out a relieved sigh when she was, raising the doors.

"Foxy's out! Close the left door!" Mike yelled, and she quickly complied. Both winced as they heard him beat on the door. Flickering the light on and off she opened it again when he left.

"How the fuck did you get through this? This constant suspense and-" She cut herself off this time when she heard a deep almost demonic sounding laugh. "What the fuck was that?"

Mike was silent as he checked the camera's again, unable to find Freddy in any of the camera views. Both jumped as they heard rummaging around in the kitchen again.

"I think that was Freddy. He's off the stage and nowhere to be found. He might be in the kitchen I guess, I don't know," he said biting his lip. "At least we know that Chica still frequents the kitchen, hopefully making her pizzas."

"Only you would worry about that now of all time's Mikey," Morgana complained, rolling her eyes before checking the left side door for Bonnie again.

Silence erupted between them, each doing their job without wasting power. Bonnie tried to get in quite a few times, meanwhile Mike kept an eye out for Freddy, Chica, and Foxy. Chica popped out of the kitchen a few times but seemed content to linger in the hall rather than coming up to the window.

When Mike first found Freddy, he let out a small noise of distress, just seeing black eyes in the darkness of the party room.

"You alright there Mikey?" Morganna asked, not glancing at him as she flickered the light on Chica and closed the door quickly.

"Yeah, Freddy just surprised me is all," he said with a sigh, checking Pirate's Cove again. Foxy was well behaved after his first run, only just outside of the curtain instead of ready to run. Still, he was worried. Now that he knew the patterns, knew that this was a malfunction rather than a malicious attack, he wasn't as panicked as before. Still, the fact that there was him and Morganna, and the animatronics were far more active than he'd ever dealt with worried him beyond belief. All feelings of unease came from what he didn't know.

"What time is it Mikey?" Morganna asked after a while, checking again to see if Chica was still there.

"It's a little four in the morning. We have thirty percent power left. As long as we use it sparingly then we should be fine," he said after a few more moments of silence.

Just two more hours and they'd be safe, but both were worried. Morganna was keeping under wraps the pure panic she felt every time Bonnie or Chica was actually there when she checked. Meanwhile Mike was having trouble tracking their power usage, and that's what he was concerned about most besides the fact that he couldn't find Freddy on the camera more than half the time.

Still, despite their concerns, they were doing rather well. At the same time the animatronics were not going easy on them at all. Bonnie and Chica visited quite often, Foxy had almost immediately drawn back the curtain after his first run, and Freddy was laughing all over the building. Whatever the purple man had done to them, well it wasn't good that much was certain.

It was five in the morning when everything started falling apart, starting with Foxy finally running again.

"Morganna! Left door, Foxy's running," Mike said quickly, watching his sister practically launch herself across the office to press the button just in time.

"How much power is left?" She asked worriedly, listening to the fox pound on the door.

"With Foxy's run, ten percent," he said, biting his lip.

"We won't lose this, there isn't any way," she said, lifting the door.

Mikey brought back up Pirate's Cove again, his eyes widening and he only just manage to reach out and push her hand on the door again as they heard the fox bang on the door once again.

"What?" Morganna got out after a moment.

"We're done, there is nothing we can do now," Mike said, putting down the tablet and using the light to come face to face with Chica looking in from the window.

"What do you mean-"

"I mean that we are almost out of power, Chica's there and-" he said before the building turned dark, a loud hum of the generator shutting off coursing through the building.

Both of them stood still, slightly in shock and slightly in terror as they heard metal footsteps and vaguely saw Chica's form still lingering just out of the doorway. Freddy's face lit up with each note of the music box song he'd started playing. They both could only stare until his face flickered back into darkness and stepped towards them, menacingly it almost seemed.

"Freddy, please Freddy! It's us, Mikey and Morganna!" Mike tried, even knowing that it was most likely in vain. "We aren't endos, we aren't."

"I remember you-" Freddy was talking, though his eyes were different again, like they had been that one night. "We played together."

"We did! We used to play together all the time," Mike tried, though his approach was unsure. It sounded like Freddy, but there was an underlying tone of a little girl's voice. It was a strange malfunction, that was for sure, but that's all it was, right?

"I don't-don't want to hu-hurt you-you-you-" Freddy said next before taking another step forward. "I do-do-do! I want you to hu-hurt like u-us-" His voice changed again, this time taking on a boy's voice underneath. "I want more-more frie-friends. Will they be-be o-our friends?"

"We'll be your friends! I promise, but you have to let us go," Morganna tried next, unsure as to what was happening, but hoping whatever it was could be in their favour.

"No-no, they-they'll just le-leave," another voice sounded. "Ju-just decide I w-want to-to sl-sleep," yet another voice sounded. "We-we sh-shouldn't they ar-aren't like h-him."

"You're the children, the children that- oh my," Morganna suddenly realised what they were talking to wasn't Freddy, but rather spirits of children who had died there. Mike's eyes widened, wondering how it was possible, but clearly something was wrong.

"A man hurt you all right?" Mike tried next, biting his lip and hoping somehow his words could help.

"Ye-yes," Freddy replied, the first little girl's voice coming through.

"He's the one that set this up, whatever he did it hurt our friends. It hurt Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy. We want to help them, we want to put him away forever, but we can't do that if you won't let us go," Mike explained, carefully unmoving as Freddy took another step towards him.

"I-I-I am so-sorry," the little girl's voice sounded, stepping towards them again. "The-they wa-want you t-to jo-join us. Join-n us-s!"

Freddy's hands reached out to grab Mike, who'd been the closest. His eyes closed and tears escaping to run their way down his cheeks as Freddy grabbed him by the neck one moment before abruptly stopping, mechanical arm falling with a clank against the bear's body.

"Wh-what am I seeing? What am I seeing Mikey?" Morganna's voice sounded, shaky and terrified.

Mike looked up to see the Golden Freddy suit sitting in the middle of the office, he reached out with a trembling hand to touch it, but it phased right through.

_'__It's me. I'm on your side. Run. Please run. I can't hold them back. Run run run.'_

A whisper of a voice sounded all around them and with it they took the advice, running around Freddy's seemingly deactivated body and into the hallway.

"We-were do ya-ya tink you-you're g-going ma-matey? Y-yer suits a-are all rea-ready," Foxy stood in the hallway, blocking their path.

"Tha-that was-wasn't ve-very fair!" Freddy's voice came from behind them.

"Mikey, I want you to run and hide. Just- whatever happens run and hide," Morganna said, not giving him time to say anything back. Grabbing his hand she pulled him behind her, running past Foxy and pushing him underneath the party room tables, hoping he'd be able to use them for cover until he could get to a better hiding place.

She turned back to animatronics and ran at them, dodging as Foxy reached out towards her, attempting to grab her. Freddy stepped towards her, trying to grab her as well. Dodging she maneuverer them away from Mikey, Bonnie and Chica eventually coming to box her in. She let out a sob as mechanical hands tightened around her wrists.

"W-we wi-will have a ne-new fr-friend!" Freddy said happily, the voices overlapping more and more. "Wi-will yo-you be ou-our mo-mommy?"

"I'll be your friend; please just let me and my brother go! We will visit you always, just please!" She pleaded as she was dragged through the party room, heading towards back room.

"N-no. Y-you'll ju-just l-leave," Freddy replied, another voice underneath again. The children seemed to switch between themselves, using the body together.

"It-it's ag-against th-the rules to be-be out of y-yer suit m-matey," Foxy replied.

"Do-don't wo-worry d-dear! I-it'll o-only ta-take a mo-moment," Chica chipped in, her whole face twitching strangely.

Bonnie was the one to lift her on the table, holding down her arms as she struggled to get lose. Chica held down her legs when she started kicking and attempting to sit up. Freddy grabbed part of the empty suit, pulling loose one of the arms from the torso segment, they all went on separately, connected to the torso after being assembled around the endoskeleton.

Freddy brought the opening of the arm to her's, aligning them and then pushed it on harshly. Then she heard a scream, not realising it was hers at first through the intense pain she was feeling as the wires and internal components scrapped at the skin of her arm, tearing and ripping into it. Tears ran down her face as a ringing filled her ears.

She was in a world of pain at that moment and only her arm was in part of the suit. What had the other guards felt like if-if this is what it felt like to have part of you shoved inside a robotic suit? Her thoughts flew out the window as the bear animatronic twisted the arm, aligning it or something. Whatever he was doing, it hurt enough that she couldn't even breath for a moment.

Meanwhile Mike was pounding at the backstage door, distracting the animatronics though she was unaware of that. He never wanted to go along with whatever plan she'd concocted, but he waited, and regretted that when he heard her scream. Rushing to the door had been easy enough now that the animatronics were all in one place, and getting their attention was easy enough.

Pounding on the door and throwing it open he yelled incoherently at the animatronics, watching with slight terror and satisfaction as they stepped towards him. He stood there, unmoving, hoping Freddy would move away from his sister and towards him. After a moment of indecision that's what he did, reaching out towards Mike and grabbing him roughly.

"You-yo-"

The bear had begun to speak before a loud noise erupted through the pizzeria, lights flickering back on in the hallway and the animatronics all stopped moving, eyes going blank and limbs falling at their sides. Seconds later an alarm of children's triumphant cries went off, signalling the end of another night.

With tears in his eyes he quickly moved to Morganna's side, biting back sobs of his own upon seeing that she'd actually passed out presumably from pain. With shaky hands he pulled back the animatronic arm that surrounded hers, gagging as he saw how mangled her arm was and how badly it was bleeding.

It was bleeding too much, bleeding too badly, and he could only stand there and stare at it for a moment before gathering her in his arms and rushing out of the backroom. He had to get her to a hospital, but he wasn't sure if he'd even make it in time with his driving and a lack of pressure she'd have on her arm.

"Mikey! Oh- what the fuck- what happened?" Ace had entered the room while Mike had been lost in thought. He stared in abject horror at Morganna's mutilated arm.

"Morg- she needs a hospital. There isn't-"

"Come on then. I'll drive. Keep pressure on any cuts near her wrist," he said, walking briskly back to the door, opening it for Mike and only pausing for a moment to click the lock shut again.

He opened the back door to his car and quickly got in himself and started it up. He looked in the mirror, watching Mike's worried face as he pulled out of the Pizzeria's parking lot.

"It'll be alright chief," he tried, a forced smile on his face. "Doll is a tough one, she'll get through it. We'll be to the hospital in no time."

* * *

**AN :: Yay another chapter! Okay, so I was really excited to write this... and then it fell to shit. By that I mean it was kind of hard to write. u.u Don't know why. But yes night seven done! Woooo. Someone was only slightly maimed instead of killed, so that's your good news. Also some of you expressed some concern about Ace. You wanna know a secret? Ace is weird because he is so fucking hard to write. Seriously he's supposed to be one smooth mofo, but I am not one of those, so he's all blechy. I am tryinnng. Why can't I be a smooth mofo. [/dies]**

**Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I hope you'll continue enjoying the story thus far. Any comments, questions, or concerns you have are always appreciated. Thank you so much for all of the positive reviews thus far!~ They really make me very happy! Thank you all for reading and I hope you have a very lovely day or night!**


	18. Afternoons at the Hospital

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

Mike sat in the ER waiting room only just managing to keep himself under control. The damage to Morganna's arm was worse than he imagined, an open fracture of the bone near her wrist, not to mention all of the skin that had been practically sliced off. They took her in for surgery hours before and he yet to hear anything from the nurses.

Ace sat beside him, often just talking, which did help but still Mike couldn't find it in himself to reply. He just sat there, blankly staring at the wall, the floor, the ceiling, anything but at the nurses who rushed passed or the other people worriedly waiting for their own loved ones. Finally, after what seemed like days, white shoes came into his vision, stopping in front of him.

"Are you here for Morganna Schmidt?"

"Yes, yes. I'm her brother, is she going to be alright?" Mike asked, only just keeping himself under wraps still as he stood up quickly from his seat.

"She is going to be fine sir, though in pain for at least a few weeks. If you follow me, the doctor has some questions he'd like to ask you," she replied, leading him down a bustling hallway.

Mike glanced back at Ace, receiving a nod as the other man remained seated. He couldn't help but feel grateful to the other man, for driving them to the hospital and then sticking around. If Ace hadn't been there, well Mike would have quickly broken down. Becker had been less than happy about having to come in to cover Ace's shift, from what Mike heard, so he couldn't be more grateful really.

After a few turns through identical hallways they stopped outside of one of the rooms, a doctor waiting there.

"You're Mr. Schmidt correct? I just had some questions to ask you regarding your sister," the man began, pushing glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

"Yes, is- is there anything wrong?" Mike asked, biting his lip nervously.

"You declined to answer how your sister received her injury, but we found some evidence of past self-harm. You are certain that the injury wasn't a result of her wishing to hurt herself?" The man asked, trying to speak delicately.

"No! No- she'd never. In the past-" Mike cut himself off, clearly uneasy. "No, her injury was an accident with some robotic machinery."

Mike pulled himself together to give a proper response to how she'd received her injury, but it was clear to the doctor that he was trying to distract from his words that Morganna had indeed hurt herself in the past.

"If it's alright, I'd like a hospital psychologist to speak with her before she checks out," the man replied, waving over another woman. "This is Doctor Larson, she'd like to ask your sister a few questions."

"Oh, um. I guess that's alright if Morganna wants to talk to her," he said, unsure how else to reply. It was unlikely that his sister would talk to the woman though, knowing her.

Meanwhile Morganna was in the room vaguely hearing the conversation outside the door with thinly veiled irritation. Her arm hurt like hell, and she was sure that they had her pumped full of pain meds. Only a simple splint kept her wrist from moving while cuts itched and ached beneath all the bandages, meaning she'd probably be getting a cast in the near future. She just wanted to go home and sleep for an eternity at that moment.

"Hello Morganna, I'm Doctor Larson. I'd like to ask you a few questions if that's alright," the woman said as she entered the room, closing the door behind her.

"Yeah, yeah. Just get it over with, I'd really like to go home and sleep now," Morganna replied, clearly irritated.

"Alright then. Have you ever harmed yourself purposefully?" The woman began, taking a seat near the bed.

"Yes, your doctor clearly saw the scars," Morganna began, rolling her eyes at the redundant question.

"Have you harmed yourself recently?"

"Listen Doctor, I have no intentions of leaving this world, alright? This injury, robotic accident, now if you'd please let me leave that would be great," Morganna snapped, before sighing and rubbing her face with her good hand. "Look, I know you're just doing your job, but I am fine. I assure you I wouldn't try to mangle my own arm to kill myself."

"Miss Schmidt, have you harmed yourself recently?" The woman asked again, receiving a glower for her troubles.

"No, now I'm leaving if it's all the same to you," She replied back as she literally ripped the IV out of her arm before pulling off the cords that connected to her the heart monitor in the room. Shakily she rose to her feet, intending to walk out the door if she could make it there despite the light headedness she was hit with suddenly.

"Woah! Hold up, even if you're feeling well enough to be released you have to be checked by the doctor, you lost a lot of blood-"

"Look Lady, if you want to help me then go get the fucking doctor in here now," Morganna said after a few moments with a scowl as she sat back down onto the bed.

"Is everything alright in here?" A doctor showed up, face concerned as he stepped through the door.

"Just dandy Doc, now can you please release me now? This hurts like a bitch, I'm tired, and I just want to go home and sleep off the pain," the brunette snapped.

"Slow down there Miss Schmidt, there are a few things you need to know before you leave. I highly suggest staying at least a few hours too, since you lost so much blood before you arrived-" the doctor began saying before Morganna cut him off with a loud and very rude sigh.

"Look, Doc I get you're just doing your job, but I will not stay another moment in this hospital. So tell me what you need to tell me, get my brother, and let me go. It'll be better for the both of us, you don't have to deal with an irate patient and I don't have to be that irate patient anymore, understand?" She spoke quickly, really wanting to get out of there. Hospitals were fucking awful, the absolute worst.

"Well, I'm sorry to say that you'll have to come back in around a week. Right now you're wearing a temporary splint, when some of the cuts on your arm heals we will need to switch to a more traditional cast. The bone in your wrist was fractured and thankfully you were brought to us before it would be a problematic fix, but it's still going to be upwards of a year of recovery," he said, looking apologetic, surprisingly not insulted by her words, though she idly wondered if he dealt with a lot of irate patients to not let it bother him.

"Well fuck," she replied with a sigh and a shake of her head.

"For the first few weeks your wrist is going to give you some pretty intense pain, so I'm going to write you a prescription for some pain medication. Take it when the pain becomes too much, alright?" The man said, writing on his clipboard before ripping the paper off and handing it to her.

"Thanks Doc, can I go now?" She asked after taking the prescription.

"If you'll hole on one moment, I'll go get your brother," the man said, stepping out of the room.

"You're sure you're alright Morganna?" The hospital psychologist asked finally, looking the younger woman in the eyes.

"I'm fine Doctor Larson. Really," Morganna replied unwavering.

"Alright… just, here take my card. If you do need to talk, then please don't hesitate to call," she said, shoving her card into the other's hands and walking out of the room without allowing a response.

Morganna scoffed and shrugged, but kept the card though she wouldn't be using it. She smiled when she saw Mike enter the room, though it dropped when she saw how worse for wear he was.

"Mikey? You alright there?" She asked in concern.

"Morg- you… you have no idea," he said, choking up slightly.

"Come on Mikey, no tears. I'm fine," she assured him with a strained smile.

"I-I'm not going to cry. I was- Don't ever do that again!" He commanded, his voice shaky and full of emotion.

"But Mikey-"

"No buts! You aren't allowed to sacrifice yourself for me! We said we'd get through this together, and that's how we'll get through it. So no more going off on your own, promise me!" He exclaimed, only just keeping both his voice down and himself together.

Morganna shook her head at first before she smiled. "Alright Mikey, you win."

"Good, now did the Doctor give you leave?" He asked, finally relaxing for the first time in hours.

"Yeah, hold on. Help me get dressed now," she said, motioning to the pile of her clothes. He brought them over and turned around as she pulled off the hospital gown. She struggled to get into her shirt and let out a grunt. "I said help Mikey!"

"Alright, alright! Gosh," He grumbled, red faced as he turned and helped her pull the on. Lowering himself he helped her step into black pants and pulled them up with a sigh.

"Oh hohoho. You embarrassed mister? You forgot how sexy your sister is?" She teased, watching his face light up a bright red again.

"I never want to hear the words 'sister' and 'sexy' in a sentence again. Seriously Morg, don't," he complained, face still bright red. She just laughed at him while she leaned against the bed to avoid falling over. He knew she loved to tease him, but that didn't stop him from being flustered and embarrassed by it. Sometime he wished he could stop responding so that she would stop teasing, of course that wasn't going to happen anytime soon it seemed, then again a lack of response might make the teasing worse.

"You are such a jerk sometimes," he commented with another defeated sigh that only made her cackle more. Her laughter died down only when the doctor finally opened the door again.

"Alright. Miss Schmidt, hospital policy insists you have to leave in a wheelchair, being in the condition you are. If you could stop at reception on the way out, I talked to the secretary about setting up an appointment to get a proper cast on. Make sure to get that prescription filled," the doctor said, pushing a wheelchair in the room.

"Of course Doctor, I'll make sure she does," Mike assured him with a nod, taking the chair from him and pushing it towards his sister. He looked at her, intending to help her up and onto it, but was denied as she stood shakily on her own before turning and collapsing in it.

"I am not an invalid," she stated, nose up turned at his expression.

"Of course not, you only just had your arm mangled to hell and back is all," Mike replied with a sigh and shake of his head, knowing that her stubbornness wouldn't allow for him to help her very much until it became a problem.

She sniffed, not acknowledging his words. How long would it be until her arm healed? How much damage would show? She'd be lying to herself if she said that she was alright with wearing the scars for the rest of her life. Sure, she could deal with it, but still… it would be a reminder of that man more than anything else. Not to mention the guilt their strange family would have upon seeing the scars too.

"Mikey, how did you get me here anyway?" She asked as he continued to push her down the hallway.

"That would be thanks to me doll," Ace came practically out of nowhere as they entered the reception area. Or rather, neither twin saw him and both jumped.

"What the hell! Come on, you did that on purpose," she yelled, receiving more than a few glares from those in the area.

"Sorry doll, didn't mean to frighten either of you again," Ace apologised sheepishly. "I'm glad to see that you're alright though."

"Tch. I'm made of tougher stuff than I look. So- oh fuck," Morganna exclaimed, quietly cursing this time.

"What's wrong?" Mike asked her right away, clearly worried she was hurting.

"Well, I ride a motorcycle Mikey and I can't exactly do that with a mangled arm as you so eloquently put it," she said with a sigh. She was going to miss riding her baby, not to mention how much trouble it was going to be to get around with her wacky schedule.

"If you need a ride anywhere when I'm not working I'd be willing to give you one," Ace offered easily.

"And of course you can rely on me too," Mike added with a nod.

"Thanks guys, I appreciate it," Morganna said with a nod, holding back a sigh. She hated the feeling of losing independence. "Now, if you can take us back to the Pizzeria for Mikey to get his car that would be great. I'll have a friend pick up my motorcycle later today."

With that the three stopped at the reception desk to set up her appointment much to her dismay. The only upside was that her arm would be fixed faster in the end, though that still didn't stop a perpetual scowl from forming on her face.

* * *

By the time they got home it was nearly half past three in the afternoon and neither had slept. Walking up the stairs wasn't difficult, but Morganna had to admit that doing so while so exhausted was not helping her at all. Thankfully she didn't live all that many floors up.

Mike was in a similar state now that he didn't have constant worry clawing at his mind. Of course he was still worried though, not just about his sister's wellbeing, but also what Ace may have told Becker about what had happened. He wasn't sure how much trouble he was going to be in, not to mention the worry for the friends that had attacked them in the first place. Whatever had been done to them… he hoped it was reversible and that it didn't damage them.

Both had just stepped into the apartment when Morganna's phone went off. She glanced down at it briefly, surprise taking over her face.

"Oh hell-"

"What now Morg?" Mike cut her off, knowing whatever she was going to say wasn't good.

She shook her head and answered it with a sigh. "Hello?"

"Hi Morganna! I was just wondering if you needed directions to my house for dinner tonight?" Alicia asked cheerfully unaware of her friend cringing on the other side of the line.

"Oh umm, no. We can find your house pretty easily," Morganna replied, sighing in defeat.

"Alright then! See you in a little while," Alicia responded before hanging up.

"Mikey, we have got to go to dinner. I mean- Sinclair actually asked for the both of us and this is our chance," she said with a sigh.

Mike nodded, though he looked concerned. "Are you sure you're well enough to go? I can go alone…"

"Mikey, I am fine. Just- we should stop and get my prescription filled beforehand," she said with a sigh. "Whatever they pumped into me at the hospital is wearing off."

"Give me your prescription and I'll run down to the pharmacy to get it filled, you get ready for dinner," he said, holding out his hand.

"Here just-" she began, wincing as she dug through her pants pocket, jerking her injured arm in the process. Finally after a moment of struggling she pulled out her wallet and the prescription and handed it to Mike.

"Hurry up Mikey. You have to get ready too, we need to make a good impression," she said with a grimace. She hated sucking up to anyone, but they needed to do this. She grumbled to herself quietly, "We didn't need sleep any way."

"Of course, I'll be back soon. Be careful," Mike said, biting his lip.

"You too Mikey, that guy is still out there. Keep your guard up," she said with a grimace.

Mike nodded, knowing her words to be true, but not wanting to think about them more than he had to. He hated that the man was controlling their lives. Neither wanted to even think the man's name now that they knew who it was, but they couldn't help but remember he was out there, watching and waiting. They weren't safe until they found him, and even then… what could they do? He pushed the thoughts from his mind as he left the apartment.

* * *

**AN :: A shorter chapter update this time. I am unfortunately am losing momentum with this story. I have so many idea's, but when I sit down to write them out... the words just don't come to me. I'll pull through though I promise! If my muse is kind I should have another update up in the next few days again. Thank you so much for reading again everyone! I know I've said it before, but your reviews, follows, and favourites really give me so much happiness! Seriously, I appreciate your support so much and I could not be happier that you're all enjoying the story thus far. n.n**

**Before I sign off, I did want to ask everyone one thing. Would anyone be interested in seeing a tumblr account about this story and the characters? I was thinking of maybe trying to draw out the characters too. I'm no artist, but drawing is kind of fun, so yeah. Anyway, if you could PM or review if you'd be interested in seeing that! Again, thank you so much for reading! As always I hope your day or night is amazing and wonderful!**


	19. An Evening at Sinclair Mansion

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

Mike had to stop at his apartment to retrieve clean clothes, so he decided to shower and get dressed there while he was at it. He peered into the mirror after showering revealed dark purple circles that actually made him wince upon seeing them. Ever since he'd gotten the job at Freddy's his sleep schedule was all kinds of screwed up, but getting no sleep at all… well it certainly wasn't going to help he was sure.

After shaving and brushing his teeth and hair, he pulled on a white dress shirt and black pants. He wasn't sure how exactly to dress, unsure as to how formal the dinner was. He'd never been invited to dinner out of the blue by anyone before. Actually he'd never been invited to this kind of dinner by anyone before. The few relationships he'd had never evolved to the point of 'dinner with the parents' or anything like that. That's what this felt like kind of, since presumably it would just be him, Morganna, and the Sinclairs.

Regardless, he knew that it was their one shot to hopefully open Mr. Sinclair's eyes and have him keep open the pizzeria. Still- maybe he should be more worried about the invitation itself? After all, it did come out of the blue. Why did Sinclair want them at dinner? It was worrying, but he tried to push those thoughts to the back of his mind as he drove back to Morganna's apartment.

He pulled onto the curb and grabbed the bag with her pills in it from the back seat before entering the building, taking two stairs at a time as he walked up to her floor. He knocked on the door for a moment before trying the knob, surprised to find it open. Worriedly he opened the door to find a few things knocked over and clothing strewn across the floor leading from Morganna's room.

"Morg?" He asked, hesitantly, alarmed by the mess. Was she alright? Did- "Morganna? Are you-"

"Ugh! I knew you'd come while I was trying to do this, just- come here Mikey," She grunted out, cutting him off.

He sighed, walking into her room to find her trying to tie her hair up… or something. It was clear she was struggling, one hand trying to get a tie around her hair while it was meanwhile tangled up in her other arm, thus making the action impossible. He wanted to laugh, but the momentary panic had evaporated any form of amusement he'd have gained.

"Morg, here just let me do it," He said walking over and taking a moment to detangle her hair and gently push her hands away from her hair. He put the bag containing her pills on the vanity before picking up a brush and gently starting to comb through her hair, pulling it up until it was high upon her head. He held his hand out for the tie, and upon receiving it quickly wrapped it in her hair as much as he could and gently pulled to tighten the pony tail.

"There," he said with a small bit of satisfaction as he flipped a small bit of the pony tail onto her shoulder while she brushed through her bangs quickly.

"Thanks Mikey, I forgot how good you are at this," she said with a teasing smile.

"Hey, you were the one that couldn't pull her own hair up into a ponytail until high school," he said, a small smile finally forming on his face. "I learned so I could be a nice big brother."

"Hey! I'm the older sister, I was born three minutes before you," she replied, narrowed eyes.

"Yes, that's true… but I am three inches taller," he taunted with a small chuckle as she pouted.

"Alright, alright. You got me there," she replied after a moment with a sigh. "Okay, I seriously need your opinion here… hold on a sec."

Mike watched as she moved into her closet, moving things aside until she found what she was looking for. Apparently it was a blazer that was slightly large on her, but fit over the bulky bandages on her arm.

"Alright, so how do I look?" She asked, giving a slight twirl. He thought about it for a moment, taking in the outfit she was wearing. He wasn't exactly a fashion expert, but he knew her style and he could actually tell when she looked good in something. Her outfit consisted of a sleeveless white pan collared blouse, the black blazer she'd just pulled on, a black flared A line skirt, and black lace tights.

"Hmm… I think it might be too cute for you Miss Supposedly Bad Ass," he joked with a smile. She stopped twirling and gave him a glare before crossing her arms and hissing immediately when she did.

"I am bad ass," she said sticking her tongue out and uncrossing her arms with another hiss. "Did you get those pills?"

"Yeah, but um… hate to tell you this Morg, but they are the 'fun' kind of painkillers. I think you'll just have to take Tylenol until the dinner is over," he said apologetically.

"Ughh. That'll be fun later I guess though. You know how much I love acting like a general jack ass with an actual excuse for it," she said, both siblings bursted out laughing after the words left her mouth.

"Yes, yes. You're just an ass of all sorts; now get your shoes on. We're going to be late," he said, glancing at the clock.

"Don't tell me what to do… little brother," she said snidely. He let out a groan that made a cheeky grin appear on her face as she grabbed a pair of shoes and slide them on before quickly doing a swirl in front of the mirror. Yup, high heeled oxfords were definitely the way to go. In the back of her mind she could only hope that Alicia would think so as well.

After Morganna took some Tylenol, the siblings were out the door and on their way to a dinner where neither really knew what to expect.

* * *

Alicia was beyond excited for dinner and everyone in the household knew it. She flitted around the house, actually interacting with everyone, which was a major tell for exactly how excited she was. It was well known that she was reserved and didn't speak much. In fact, for those working in the household, the dinner was a momentous occasion. Everyone was very aware that the young heiress had no friends, hadn't had time to make any between being bed ridden and the job she took up after her astounding recovery.

It was clear that the woman was concerned with nearly everything. She was the one to actually pick out the table cloth and which plates they used. Then the other day she'd actually was outside, other than when she went to her job or to take Edith somewhere. Trisha Evans, the housekeeper who'd been under employment since before Alicia's birth even, was very glad to see the change.

The older woman was in her later fifties and she was a witness to the misfortune that constantly hit the household. She knew more than anyone else about the Sinclairs, the dirty secrets and all. Her loyalty towards them was unwavering though, so she remained silent and did her job. After overlooking the final preparations for the evening she found herself going to tell Mr. Sinclair that everything was prepared and the twins should be arriving within half an hour.

She walked down slightly confusing corridors that she knew like the back of her hand, the house was big, but spend enough time there then you could see the little differences each corridor held. Finally she was at the right door, knocking on it quietly and waiting until she heard a quiet 'come in.'

"Mr. Sinclair," she said, bowing her head slightly. "Preparations for this evening have been made and the guests should be arriving very soon."

"Good, very good Mrs. Evans. Thank you for all your hard work. How are the girls?" He asked, sitting back in his chair and away from the paper work he'd been filling out.

"Miss Alicia and Miss Edith are beside themselves with excitement. They both seem to really like the Schmidt twins," the woman replied.

"Ah yes, the Schmidts, what were their names again?" He asked, seemingly uninterested.

"Michael and Morganna sir," she replied quickly. As housekeeper it was not only her duty to keep the house in order, but also know all information of the guests that would be arriving, or so that had also become her duty. She didn't mind much, she liked to be useful to the family she owed so much to.

"Ah yes. Michael is the surviving guard, is he not?"

"Yes, he survived the power outage on his third night and every night since. According to that… man you have as manager, Michael claimed the animatronics remembered him," the woman said with a nod.

"His sister… she was a what again, a programmer?"

"A robotic engineer, though it seems that she has taken programming jobs every now and then. She's apparently on call for Futurintech, a small business owned by one of her friends from college," she replied again.

"And there was no sign of tempering with the animatronics the day of the power outage or any day onward that I know of…" he said, trailing off, thinking for a moment. "Well they certainly are a conundrum aren't they Mrs. Evans? Capturing the attention of both my daughters and the animatronics, I almost look forward to meeting them."

"You don't sir?"

"They have made a large hole in my theory form," he said, clearly irritated and frustrated with the idea.

"Perhaps it's for the best sir, maybe you-"

"I would stop right there Mrs. Evans," he said, looking at her darkly before sighing. "I apologise, please go and make sure to greet our guests. I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Of course sir," Trisha replied with another bow before leaving the room.

Shutting the door and walking back into the foyers she was nearly bowled over by Alicia. The young woman in question caught herself and looked up at the housekeeper bashfully.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Evans! Didn't see you there," she said sheepishly.

"It's quite alright Miss Alicia. You're quite excited for the Schmidts to get here, aren't you?" She asked, smiling a bit at the look that overtook the heiress' face.

"A little. Michael and Morganna are… well they're very nice. I mean, we haven't hung out much, but they are- they just," the girl was at a loss for words.

"They are your friends, aren't they? Even if you haven't spent much time together, it's clear that you care about them and I don't know a soul that would turn away your friendship dear," she replied kindly, smiling at the girl.

"I- I want them to be at least. I mean, I know that I'm not much but-"

"Oh hush now; you're a very lovely girl. Now, go and get washed up. Your friends should be here any moment now," she said, shooing the girl away. "Make sure to get your sister to wash up too!"

The young woman nodded and went to do what she was told. A few minutes later the doorbell rang. Brushing the skirt of her dress down she walked forward to greet their guests, opening the doors to reveal the grand hall of Sinclair Mansion.

Mike and Morganna couldn't help but pause as they looked into the house, obviously thrown off by the amount of splendour. They certainly were expecting some show of wealth through the house, they were going into a mansion after all, but for the entrance way to be so… ritzy. Well neither were expecting that. It was odd to think of their friend living in such wealth.

Trisha couldn't help but be a little amused with the twin's amazement. She wasn't sure what to think about them yet, knowing just basic facts about them, though Alicia was absolutely smitten with them it seemed.

"Hello Mister and Miss Schmidt. Welcome, I am the housekeeper Trisha Evans," she said, inclining her head.

"Uhh. I'm Morganna, though you seem to know that already I'm guessing. Nice to meet you?" Morganna was the first to speak, uncertain of what to say. Mike remained silent, still thinking about why they were invited to dinner in the first place, unconsciously moving closer to his sister.

The older woman took in the sight of the two, happy to see that they were taking the dinner seriously, at least in regards to the way they dressed. It was clear that they were close, but despite the similarity in appearance, they were rather different people for sure, the sister being more outspoken than the brother. She nodded in approval; they seemed a little rough around the edges, but otherwise fine people, though she wasn't sure that would be good enough for Mr. Sinclair.

"Yes. Well, if you'd follow me then. Most of the household should be in the dining room," she said after a few moments, turning and leading the twins down a corridor.

Both siblings casually glanced around as they were lead down the hallway, still bewildered by the fact that their friend really did live in this particular house. Morganna wondered if it was strange at all, living in a house that probably was more empty than full of people.

After a minute they arrived at a large door that the housekeeper proceeded to open to a lavish dining room that matched the interior of the mansion thus far.

"Morganna, Mike!"

That exclamation was the only warning they received before they realised that Alicia had run over to them and was pulling them into a near bone crushing hug.

"Uhhh- hi to you too," Morganna gasped out.

"Sorry, sorry," Alicia apologised, pulling away. "I wasn't sure you guys were going to make it, you sounded like you'd forgotten-oh my god! What happened to your arm Morganna?"

"Eh, just an accident with machinery," she replied with a shrug, hiding her arm behind her back a little with a frown.

"Are you- are you alright?" She asked worriedly.

"Tch. This is nothing," Morganna replied with a shrug.

"Alright…" Alicia finally said, trailing off with a frown. She took a moment to pull a smile back on her face as she turned to Mike. "How have you been Mike?"

"I've been alright, sorry about not coming to lunch the other day," he apologised.

"It's alright, you need sleep sometimes," she said with a smile. "Anyway-"

"Morganna! Mike!"

Seconds after another exclamation of their names, a little blur flew across the room to attach itself on Morganna, hugging the woman's waist tightly.

"Hey kid, how're you doing?" Morganna asked with a chuckle.

"Edith! That is-" Another, slightly familiar voice called out, heels clicking on the floor before stopping along with her words. "Oh."

"Doctor Larson what are you-" Morganna started saying, before coming to a similar conclusion. "Oh."

"I didn't realise that you were the person Edith seemed so… enamoured with," she said before coughing. "Ahem, well come on then everyone. Please sit. Food will be served in a few minute and my husband shall join us any minute as well."

They all sat down, Mike and Morganna across from Alicia and Edith. Doctor Larson, as they knew her, sat at the end of the table, the head presumably for her husband. The table was the perfect size for them all, presumably one of the ones that could be elongated, unless they had a bigger table they used for big dinner parties.

"So, uh- Doctor Larson, you didn't take your husband's name?" Morganna attempted to start a conversation.

"I have it appended. It's actually Doctor Larson-Sinclair, but that's a mouthful so," the woman replied, trailing off. It was awkward, having dinner with someone you suspected of wanting to hurt themselves and finding out that it was the same person your daughter and step-daughter talked about often despite only meeting a few times.

"Y-Yeah I guess," Morganna stuttered out awkwardly, unsure of what to even say.

Mr. Sinclair took that moment to step into the room, dressed smartly in a suit and smiling apologetically. "I apologise, I had to take a call."

"It's alright dear," the woman replied with a smile.

"Ah, you must be Michael!" The man said with a smile, walking towards where Mike was seated.

Mike stood up quickly, shaking the man's hand. "Y-Yes sir! Umm, it's wonderful to meet you sir."

"It's good to meet you son. Becker was telling me that you're the first to last at the job for longer than a week. I guess the others just couldn't take the hours," the man said with a sigh. "It's good to have you at the job."

"Uhh, thank you sir," Mike said uncertainly. It was strange, how the man was talking… like he didn't know about the happenings at the pizzeria. Maybe Becker kept the deaths from the man? It was- well it was strange that was for sure.

"And you must be Morganna, Alicia has told me good things about you," Sinclair said as he turned towards her.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Sinclair," she said simply, standing to shake the man's hand. She didn't trust him, something was just strange about the man. Sure he was cordial, but that didn't mean much.

They all went to sit down as food was brought out. Everyone started to take food and start eating quietly, almost awkwardly. The twins followed the family's lead, eating quietly. Dinner was seemingly a quick affair in the household, being over within fifteen minutes of silence.

"Alicia, are you feeling alright? You only had salad…" Morganna questioned, a little worried for the other girl. She had said she was sickly, so not eating much was sure not to help.

"I'm fine. I just don't have very much of an appetite tonight," she replied with a shrug.

Morganna let it go, but silently was worried for the other girl. Her attention turned to Sinclair when he cleared his throat rather noticeably.

"Mike, Morganna. Would you both follow me? I had some private business I wanted to discuss with you," he said, getting up and walking towards glass doors leading outside onto a patio of sorts. He opened the door for them, closing it when the three of them were outside.

He let silence settle for a moment, looking at the setting sun before turning back to the twins.

"I asked you here because I wanted to extend an offer to you both," he began. "As you know I will be shutting down Freddy Fazbear's sooner rather than later. As a surprise for Alicia, I wanted to reopen Freddy's in a new location. I'd like you two to work for me."

"Doing what sir?" Morganna was the first to recover, still slightly stunned by the offer. She'd been so doubtful that they would succeed she never even gave thought to the fact that Sinclair might actually have plans to reopen the restaurant.

"Well, I'd like you to look over the new animatronics that have been made," Sinclair started again. "You're a robotic engineer, correct? I'd actually like you to take a look at the old models too, check their programming and all that. No need to fix them, but I'd like the new animatronics to have similar personalities to the old ones."

"Sir-" Morganna's tone was slightly outraged, but she was cut off before she continued.

"She'd love to, isn't that right Morganna?" Mike answered for her, giving her a look. He realised that they could maybe save their friends, even if they wouldn't be able to perform anymore. She glared at him for a moment before nodding.

"Of course, sir. I'd be delighted," she replied, only a small amount of sarcasm in her voice. Neither noticed the other man's eye narrow before he smiled widely.

"Good, good to hear. Now Michael, I'd like to keep you on as a security guard, but for the day shift. You seem like a capable young man and with the new position you'll get a pay raise of course," he mentioned.

"Yes sir, I'd be happy to," Mike replied quickly.

"Please Michael, call me Richard," the man replied with a smile. He was happy one of the siblings seemed receptive to him, going with his plan easily and convincing the other too. "Now if you both excuse me, I have some paper work to take care of."

With that he walked away with a smile. He was another step closer to his goal, not that many knew what that was. What mattered to him was that his plan was moving forward, even with the unexpected addition of the twins.

Mike and Morganna returned to the dining room, still slightly confused. None the less, they smiled and started talking with Alicia, Edith, and Doctor Larson while they ate pie and ice cream. Finally ten o'clock rolled around and Mike had to excuse himself, and by association, his sister, considering that she was unable to ride her vehicle.

"Thank you so much for having us, but I'm afraid we need to get going," Mike finally said after viewing the clock. Both twins stood up, smiling and speaking at the same time. "Thank you for having us."

"Already? Noooo," Edith whined, pouting.

"Edith…" Doctor Larson warned the other girl, her voice caring a typical mother scolding her child type of tone.

Morganna did find it odd, the older woman was quiet, but when she did interact with them through desert it was always because of Edith. It was clear that between Alicia and Doctor Larson… things were tense. They weren't exactly ignoring or snubbing one another, but it was clear neither knew what to say to the other.

Either way, Mike was right. They had to get going, and she was taking Sinclair's little hiring as permission to check the animatronics sooner rather than later. She didn't want Mike or herself to deal with another night of their family being murderous and after them.

"Alright then," Alicia got up from her seat and walked over to Morganna first, pulling her into a hug. She frowned when she felt something strange against her back when Morganna returned the hug this time. Pulling away she saw the bandages, questioning how she hadn't seen them in the first place. "Oh my- are you alright? What happened?'

Morganna winced a bit, she'd had been keeping her mangled arm out of view for most of the night, thankful Alicia had been too excited by their arrival to notice it. "It was nothing really, just an accident with some machinery. It'll heal up," she said dismissively, hoping the other girl would take that for an answer.

Alicia frowned, not liking how dismissive Morganna seemed of her injury. However, she didn't want to seem overly upset. She was sure the other woman didn't like to be fussed over. "I- just take care alright?"

"I will, don't worry," She assured the other girl, smiling as she was pulled into another hug before the girl pulled away again and turned to her brother and repeating the action. However, Morganna noted, the hug was significantly shorter. She felt a hint of satisfaction with that.

"Take care of yourself too Mike! I'll call you guys soon, alright?"

"We'll look forward to it Alicia. Until then," Mike replied with a smile.

Both walked out of the dining room and closed the door behind them. Mike turned to Morganna with a little smile.

"Well, it seems like we have some good news to tell the gang at least," Mike said, frowning when Morganna let out a huff.

"Mikey, it's only slightly good news. They're practically being scrapped," she pointed out with a sigh.

"But they aren't. Look, this was a victory. Something good in the long run. As long as they aren't scraped, then we can help them right?" He asked, though he was convinced of the fact himself.

"I guess. Always the optimist aren't you? Ugh, Alicia's dad gives me the creeps though," she said with a sigh as they walked out of the mansion and into the night air.

"You only say that because you're interested in his daughter," he said with a chuckle.

She huffed, her face flushing red. "That is untrue… but did you notice that she gave me two hugs, and they were both longer than yours?"

"So?"

"She likes me more than youuuu," Morganna taunted, with a laugh.

"Alright, whatever you say," he said with a chuckle. "Anyway, do you want me to drop you off at home?"

"Did that question seriously just leave your mouth? 'Course not stupid. I'm coming with you and fixing our friends," she said as she pulled open the passenger side door, waiting for his reply as he himself got into the car.

"The janitor's will be there and-"

"And what? Sinclair just gave me a job, remember? All I got to say is that I'm doing it for him. If it gets back to him, well then I was doing some preliminary stuff. I need to know what happened to our family," she said seriously, a deep frown settling on her face. She needed to know what happened and to fix it, prevent it from happening again. That man would not be able to control her friends again if she had any say in it.

"Alright," Mike said with a nod, understanding her conviction and knowing that she was right. They had to do something and fast. Turning on the car he headed towards Freddy's, feeling a little lighter knowing that he'd be able to tell the animatronics some good news after the previously terrible night and presumable fall out because of it.

* * *

**AN :: Thank you so much for reading again everyone! Moxy stuff will be incoming soon, don't you worry! Thank you all again for the feedback, it really does mean the world to me to hear that you're enjoying the story! Thanks for giving this story a chance, it honestly wouldn't be nearly as good without all the support you guys have given me. Like I said, this story is really running away from me a bit, but no worries there, it's still staying on track. **

**I'm still working on a timeline and profiles for relevant characters and all that, as well as bad doodles of them too. I'll post up a link on my profile when I'm finished and link it in the next chapter for those interested.**

**Really though, thank you all again! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's a bit dry, but we get a look at Richard Sinclair and kind of get a feel for his hidden motives. Ohohoho. Plus you guys now have an idea of what's incoming in the future chapters too. Yay obvious foreshadowing. Anyways, once again, I can't thank you all enough for reading and I'll see you all next update! As always have a wonderful day or night!**

**PS :: To the anon who wants twinest, I'm sorry, but it's not going to be happening any time in this fic. If you'd like I'd be willing to write a oneshot for you. I will admit I like a bit of twinest every now and then.**


	20. A Night of Repairs

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

Alicia clenched her fist from where she stood in the corridor, unsure of whether or not she wanted to knock on the door to her father's study. She was angry at him, he knew how much she liked the Schmidts, but he'd left so early and barely spoke to them. She could tell that he didn't like them, even if they were seemingly unaware of that.

She let out a deep breath before pursing her lips and knocking on the door harshly. She didn't wait for her father to say anything; instead she just walked in, closing the door behind her with a clang.

"Alicia, I thought I taught you better manners," the man began, looking at his daughter with disappointment.

"Funny, considering that you weren't only late to dinner, but you also left early," Alicia retorted back, crossing her arms in front of her. "You know how much I want to be friends with Morganna and Mike, why would you-"

"I don't want you associating with them Alicia," the man cut her off.

"What?" Her word came out in an upset squeak of disbelief; she didn't want to believe that he had said what he did.

"You heard me young lady. They wouldn't be good for you-" he tried to get out, cut off.

"What do you mean? I don't have any friends, I barely talk to anyone, how would they be bad for me?" She asked, her voice conveying how upset she was getting.

"Because I said so. I don't want you to talk to them more than necessary. That is all, I am you father and I know what is best for you," he finished, his voice conveying that he wouldn't be moved from his stance.

Alicia stood there a moment, mouth open before she turned away from the man. She wanted to cry, could feel her throat convulsing, but tears wouldn't come out. Opening the door and closing it behind her she let out a choking noise and closed her eyes. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, opening her eyes she came face to face with her step-mother.

They had never gotten along very well, her and her step-mother. It wasn't like they hated each other, but neither knew what to say, how to act around one another. So they avoided one another. It was surprising; to feel the other woman reaching out to her for what must be the first time.

"It'll be alright dear, I'll talk to him," she said quietly as she patted the blonde's shoulder. "Why don't you go and check on Edith and get her ready for bed?"

Alicia nodded, watching as the older woman went into the study. She didn't moved though, instead pressing her ear to the door.

"Why did you tell your daughter you didn't want her to see her friends?" The woman asked with a sigh.

"You don't understand dear, they aren't good for her," he said simply. Alicia could practically hear how he would look away, leaving the statement at that without an explanation.

"Aren't good for her? Keeping her cooped up here isn't good for her. Surely you see that no progress has been made for a long time," the woman replied.

"She isn't cooped up here, she has those dance classes she gives," he said dismissively.

"You keep saying that you want her to grow up, but you aren't letting her. I know you're afraid, but you have to let her stand on her own two feet sometime," the woman said with a sigh, pausing before beginning again. "You have to let go, you can't control her forever."

Alicia flinched, hearing a bang like her father's hands meeting with the surface of his desk harshly.

"You think I don't know that? No if I want to achieve all that I've been working for I can't let her follow her own path, not yet at least," he yelled, getting quieter as he went on. "She isn't ready yet."

"It isn't her that isn't ready yet, it's you. It's always been you. Do you think I don't notice how much you look at Alyssa's picture? How many times you've said her name in your sleep? How often I feel like you only married me because I look like her? A lesser woman would have walked out on you long ago, not to mention all of the screwed up-" the woman was yelling, cut off by a sound of a thud on the floor and a fluttering of papers.

"If you try to hit me again I will not only break your nose, but I will leave and not come back," she could hear the woman hiss, the sound of her father's chair scrapping against the floor. For a moment everything was silent until she heard quiet sobs.

"I'm sorry Eileen, I just-" the man tried to get out.

"Shhh, I know dear. Just- we'll work through this. You have to stop shutting me out," her step-mother told him quietly.

Alicia paused before pulling away from the door, quietly moving down the corridor and heading towards the stairs to go up to her own room. She was confused; something was strange that much was certain. Something was off about her father, about everything really. It was a strange feeling, the confusion she felt was combined with a cold empty feeling. She wanted to know what was going on.

* * *

"Alrighty Mikey," Morganna began as they pulled into the parking lot. "I need you to get my bag in the back seat."

"Your bag?" He questioned as he turned off the car, looking over his shoulder with raised eyebrows. He hadn't seen her bring a bag, didn't see one in the back seat at all actually until she reached over and moved a spare jacket he always kept back there. "When'd you put that there?"

"A few days ago, has my tools and laptop. Couldn't ride with it, so in your car it went," she said with a shrug, getting out of the car and stretching with a grunt.

He shook his head, but retrieved the surprisingly heavy bag without complaint. Morganna had always been a little sneaky shit. At least she wasn't using those skills to scare him any more for the moment, he really didn't need any more scares after the past week.

Entering the building he noticed Walter and Fritz had just begun cleaning the party room. Walter turned and waved at him before pausing upon seeing Morganna, his face falling with a frown.

Morganna pulled on a smile and walked over to him, smile falling as she looked down at her left arm. She pulled it back on quickly and held out her right hand before speaking.

"Hello sir, I'm Morganna Schmidt," she introduced herself, shaking his hand awkwardly. She was unused to using her non-dominate hand for anything.

"So you're Mike's sister? If you don't mind, may I ask what you're doing here exactly?" He asked bluntly, straight to the point. The older man hadn't ever seen to be the type to keep his thoughts hidden, Mike had come to notice over the few days of knowing him a bit better.

"Mr. Sinclair hired me to look at the animatronics and I like to get things done as quickly as possible," she replied.

"Oh, of course then. Feel free. If you need anything just ask then," he said with a shrug before moving to start cleaning again.

Mike jumped when he felt something brush against him. Looking over he saw that Fritz had settled right up to him, giving him a side glance.

"Dude, is that hot girl really your sister? I mean, I guess I see the similarities…" the younger man whispered, trailing off.

Mike just stared at him, eyebrows raised as if to say 'really man? Really?' Fritz took a second to look up at him before raising his hands in surrender.

"Sorry, didn't mean to be crude," he apologised before sighing and moving to go back to work.

Morganna turned around and motioned towards the stage, pulling herself up with only a small amount of difficultly. Mike followed, grunting a bit as he struggled against the weight of her bag for a moment. He walked over to the animatronics and set the bag on the ground nearby.

"How the heck do you even manage to carry that anywhere?" He asked with a frown, it had to weigh like fifty pounds or something.

"Mikey, I think you might have to work out a bit if that is heavy to you," she said with a chuckle. She watched with amusement as his cheeks turned red and he sputtered a bit before rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

"Whatever, you do your thing then. I'm going to go check on Foxy," he said with a sigh.

"Alright, just be careful Mikey. These three are unlikely to move even if they come online, since it's not business hours and their free roam shouldn't be enabled until midnight. Foxy free roam mode might always be on, so just… be careful if he's acting glitch. I'm going to try to work fast and come over in a small bit," she said, repeating herself a few times. He frowned but nodded as he jumped off stage heading towards Pirate's Cove.

Morganna shook her head, hoping that nothing would go wrong right then before turning to the animatronics onstage. She pursed her lips before stepping up to Chica first. It took a few seconds before she found a zipper on the external feather part of the suit. Pulling on it revealed a panel that clearly had been pulled off recently, judging by the loose screws.

She pulled over her bag, scowling a bit as she dug for a screw driver. A bit harshly she unscrewed everything and pulled the metal panel off, setting it down on stage with the screws, making sure to keep everything together. It was made even clearer that a certain man had been messing with the animatronic, judging by crossed and loose wires. How he knew what to do to make the animatronics act the way they did, she didn't know, but he was more familiar with the animatronics that she had thought.

In fact, she wondered if the man had messed with their programming or not. She paused, just staring and wondering how the heck the man had known where to plug the different sets of wires in to disconnect the animatronics memory banks from everything and yet still have them follow their original programming that they had for the night roaming mode.

She would admit she didn't know everything about animatronics, or rather she didn't know everything about her friends. Researching was difficult for the most part, most companies keeping their blueprints and manuals to themselves. In fact she'd actually stolen a few manuals for some popular restaurants animatronics a while back. Still- Freddy and the others were unique in the way they worked.

Whoever thought of the endoskeletons were rather brilliant. The endoskeletons were what gave Fazbear Entertainment's animatronics the amount of movement that they had. There were no other animatronics in the world that could walk on their own, actually walk, which is why it was such a shame that they couldn't walk around anymore.

Still, that was only part of what made them unique. The other part was the fact that Morganna now knew that they were more than robots, more than mere artificial intelligence following programming. No, they were sentient, which made things quite a bit more unsettling, knowing that someone had messed with them. It was like- like brainwashing a human being.

She was unsure if she'd be able to fix them, but she had to try. They were more than mere animatronics with sentience to herself and her brother, they truly were friends, and they were family. If she had any say in it, the man who messed with them would not come out of an encounter with her unscathed. She was sure that despite his more gentle nature, Mike would have a similar opinion.

"Uhh, did you need anything?" A voice asked.

Morganna managed to reel in a startled reaction but still scowled at the interruption. "First off, don't sneak up behind a lady unless you want to be punched. Second off, if you can get me an extension cord or something that would be helpful."

"Oh, uh, sure," the red headed man replied, scurrying off to the supply closet.

She sighed and shook her head; she was spending too much time in her own head. She had to get to work sooner rather than later. Pulling out rubber gloves she slipped them on and switched off Chica's main power before getting to work, moving wires around quickly

"Extension cord for you milady," the man from before said, pulling up the cord with him.

"Thanks," she said with a grunt, frowning when he stood behind her unmoving. "Excuse me?"

"I- ummm well I think I might, well I might know you," He said, stumbling on his words excitedly and suddenly enough to make Morganna tense up. She scowled at him again.

"Really, and where might you know me from?" She asked, perhaps a little too harshly she noted as the man shrunk back into himself a little.

"I- maybe I don't-" he started nervously before she cut him off with a sigh.

"Look sorry for snapping. I'm just a little stressed kid," she admitted.

"Um, do you- ahem, do you play EverQuest?" He asked timidly, hoping that she wouldn't go off on him for asking.

"I- oh shit you called me-"

"So it is you Fae!" He exclaimed triumphantly.

"You must be the "roguish" Frtizfry then," she said with a heavy sigh.

"Fritz Smith in this realm milady," he said with a smirk and a wink.

She shook her head and buried her face into her hands. "Oh gods. No, just no Fritz. And fuck, why use your first name in your username? Come on man, oh whatever. Just no though. Seriously, do not tell my brother I play EverQuest. If he finds out he'll eventually find out about other stuff, and just no. He has plenty to hold above me, he does not need more."

"Why is it so-"

"No Fritz," she cut him off before turning back to what she was doing.

"Oh, okay then," he said disappointedly, going to leave.

She sighed, feeling a little guilty for being so harsh with him. It was her fault he knew her voice anyway, since she'd suggested the conference call for their party during a raid just a few weeks before. "Fritz, you don't have to leave. Just no talk of EverQuest or table top games or anything we've ever talked about in game."

"Can do milady," he replied with a smile.

"No calling me Fae or milady either, just Morganna. No nicknames," she said sternly as she crouched down to set up her laptop.

"Yes ma'am," he said, wincing when she turned to look up at him with a piercing glare.

"Morganna. Morganna, got it? No ma'am, no miss, no milady, no Fae, just Morganna," she repeated, turning back to what she was doing. "If you want to help, find the zippers on the fur suits and get the panels off their backs."

"How can you stand to be this close to them?" He asked, shuddering a bit as he did what he was told, starting with Bonnie. "I mean, you know what they've done right?"

"Fritz, wanna know a secret?" She asked, a small smirk coming onto her lips as she hooked up the laptop to Chica.

"Huh, what secret?" He asked curiously as he placed the first panel and it's corresponding screws on the stage, moving towards Freddy next.

"They can hear everything that you're saying," she said. "They can even see you right now, I mean except for Chica here, she's offline for the moment."

"What?!" He jumped back, looking like he was going to bolt. She laughed a bit at his fright, feeling he deserved it at least a small bit. He frowned and furrowed his brows. "That wasn't nice."

"I'm not a very nice person. Seriously though, I wasn't joking. They wouldn't do anything though you know," she added as she read through Chica's program, skimming through the most basic lines of code.

"Wh-what do you mean? How do you know?" He asked shakily.

"'Cause I've been sneaking in here with Mikey for the past… like five nights. Not only that, but we used to come here often as children. The animatronics aren't bad," she said, frowning as she fixed a bit of corrupted code, wondering how it got that way in the first place.

"Bu-But what they do, what they've done to the night guards… I've had to clean up the-" he couldn't get out the words. He always made light of the situation in the past, but it really did affect him. Nightmares came to him often and he couldn't help but feel guilt follow him since he helped cover up so many deaths since he started helping his grandfather just a short year before. He wanted to go to the police sometimes, but at the same time he selfishly didn't want himself or his grandfather to end up in jail for being involved in covering up the deaths.

"I'm not saying they haven't done wrong, but it wasn't their fault. Fritz, something was wrong with their free roaming mode. They thought all those guards were endoskeletons. They didn't mean to kill any of them. They aren't just robots either, they felt terrible when they realised what they'd done," she said, satisified with what she'd done for Chica's programming at that moment. There were a few more lines of corrupted code she fixed, but nothing else seemed amiss. She moved onto Bonnie, starting with connecting misplaced wires to their correct spots.

"That's- that's impossible, isn't it?" He asked, rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand. He continued unscrewing Freddy's panel and finally sat it down on the ground before sitting down himself.

"Nothing is impossible. I mean, if you think about it, we're all impossibilities. The fact that no one person is the same as another should prove that. Similarities can be found, but no two people are one hundred percent alike and there are so many of us on earth," she started before she shook her head. "Not to get into philosophy or anything, but if you think of it like that… then why wouldn't it be possible for a machine to gain sentience? Especially when you consider that everyone's brain is like a machine, sending out electrical impulses."

"Alright, that makes sense. I guess," he said, scratching the back of his head with a sigh. "Still though…"

"I get it, you don't trust them. The ones you really shouldn't trust though are your employers. They knew about the deaths, but yet they never once stopped running that help wanted ad. Not to mention having you just clean up the bodies," she pointed out.

Fritz fell silent at that, knowing her words to be true. He wasn't exactly sure how to feel about the fact that even though the animatronics were the ones to kill… Becker and maybe others, knew all about it and just kept sending people to their potential deaths.

Morganna completed the work on Bonnie in silence, surprised to find the same lines of code corrupted for Bonnie as well. It was odd, considering that it wasn't blatant tampering in the code, but actual corruption, same jumbled random letters and symbols in place of what once was there. It wasn't hard to know what was supposed to be there, but still… it was strange.

Then again there was far more than corrupted code that was strange. She'd been trying not to think about it, but when she said that nothing was impossible… well she was starting to believe that statement wholeheartedly. To think that it might not just be their friends malfunctioning, but possibly ghost interference(and she loathed to even think the word). Pushing the thought forcefully from her mind she moved onto Freddy, repeating her actions in silence, Fritz watching in a sort of daze himself.

She was only slightly surprised to find the same, and more, lines of codes corrupted in Freddy's system. Honestly, she couldn't wait to question him though she doubted she'd get any kind of answer that would help her sleep at night.

* * *

Mike was hesitant about visiting the fox, scared about how the Pirate would react to seeing him. In both cases he could think of, the one where Foxy was normal and remembered the night before or one where Foxy reacted violently… he didn't imagine either going well. He felt an ache in his chest at the thought that his friend might never be fixed, that whatever the man had done would be unfixable. He didn't want to be forgotten.

He paused, for a moment unable to breathe as his brain brought up a very likely point. The other night, when he'd been talking to Foxy, he'd gotten the feeling that the fox was giving up, when the fox had admitted as much. Was what he was feeling… was it just a small fraction of what the fox had been feeling for years?

Even just the thought of being forgotten, even though they hadn't been together long, hurt more than anything he'd experienced recently. It hurt more than the time he went on a date with a guy, only to find out that said guy had only been playing him. It hurt more than when his girlfriend of two years in high school broke up with him because their relationship hadn't been going anywhere. It hurt more than even finding out that said girlfriend had been cheating on him with one of the people he considered his closest friends. The thought that what he was feeling was a fraction of what Foxy must have felt for years… he could practically feel his heart breaking.

Maybe it was weird, strange, and wrong, for him to feel the way he did for an animatronic fox. But even so, he couldn't help it. He'd always been strange when it came to relationships. Heck it was the reason his girlfriend of two years cheated on him. He was just never interested in the physical side of a relationship other than cuddling, maybe a small bit of kissing. Morganna liked sex very much, Mike… not so much. And he was content with that.

So what if he was strange, weird, and abnormal when it came to sexual relations. He'd come to realise there was nothing wrong with that. Maybe there wasn't anything wrong with whom he chose to like? Regardless though, said person would have to remember him before he could fully realise what his feelings were.

He bit his lip as he pulled back the curtains and waked slowly to the light switch, flicking it on and flooding the small stage with light. Foxy sat where he normally was, slumped against the old wooden ship set. Mike walked towards him, reaching out towards the Fox before flinching as yellow eyes lit up and Foxy turned to look towards him with jerky movements.

"A-A-Ahh-hoy t-th-there ma-aatey, wel-welcome t-ta pi-pirates co-co-co-cove," Foxy said, voice glitching badly.

"Foxy? Are you alright? Do you… do you remember me?" Mike tried, moving closer to the fox.

"St-st-sto-op," the fox struggled to get out. "St-sta-a-ay a-a-a wh- co-come ba-ack ta-ta th-the-"

Mike bit his lip, watching the animatronic turn away from him. Did he remember? Why was he… what was he even saying? He took a second before he realised that the fox was saying things he'd normally say in his show. Stop, in case the children got rowdy. Stay a while, at the beginning of shows. Come back to the cove, at the end of a show. Together it was stop, stay back maybe. It was all he could think of.

He stepped back, even though he wanted nothing more than to step forward and help fix the fox, make sure that he knew that neither Morganna nor him blamed him for the night before. He bite his lip, if Foxy was out of control… it was going to be difficult to fix him. He wouldn't give up though and he was certain his sister wouldn't either.

"I'll be back Foxy. Me and Morg, we'll fix you," he told the fox before leaving the curtained off area. He sighed, shaking his head and holding back his more panicked feelings. He focused on not feeling anything, pushing away doubt and the anger that was brewing in his chest and just took deep breaths.

"You alright there son?" A voice sounded from behind him, making him jump and frown as he turned around.

"Why does everyone do that to me?" He muttered under his breath with a sigh.

"Sorry there Mike. Didn't mean to scare you," the older man apologised.

"It's alright, I've been told I'm a bit… jumpy," he said with another sigh leaving him.

"Hey, you have every right to be, being here and all. Though I have to say you're doing almost as well as Phillip did," the man said with a sigh. "So was Foxy your favourite too?"

"I- um well yes. When I was a kid, me and Morganna practically lived in Pirates Cove," he said a little wistfully. He wished he was still a kid, back when things were simpler, his parents were alive, and he was friends with the animatronic without having to worry about possible murderers trying to kill him. "Wait, you knew Phillip?"

"Yup, knew him for a long time, since he was just a tyke," the man said with a shrug. "He was always a good kid. Not sure why he came back here, after all that happened when he was a kid."

"Oh uh, what happened? I mean not to pry," Mike said, back peddling when he realised he was being maybe a bit too nosy.

"Don't worry about it son. After all you get put through here, well it's probably better to know," the man said with a shrug. "Phillip's dad was the one that had been killing kids. He hadn't believed it, thought that maybe the company was covering up something he told me, so he came to work here himself."

"So he was…"

"Phillip Fitzgerald. Poor kid used to love it here, loved Foxy when he was young. After the incident his mother didn't allow him or his brother to come back here. Not sure what he was looking for but… I hope he found it," Walter said with a sad sigh leaving him.

"So did you- did you know Franklin then?" Mike hesitantly asked.

"Yeah, he seemed like a good man, but everyone has a bit of darkness they keep hidden," Walter replied with another sigh. "Some more than others it seemed. What he did though, well it ripped apart his family. Phillip was convinced he hadn't been the killer, but Franklin was the only one with access to the Pizzeria after hours. That's pretty damning evidence."

"Yeah…" Mike replied, trailing off. It just seemed strange, how someone who everyone swore up and down seemed like a wonderful man, good with his family, turned out to be the killer of children. Sure it happened, but… it just seemed strange.

"Anyway, I have to get back to work since my grandson is enamoured with your sister at the moment," he said with a shake of his head, muttering something about 'lazy youngsters' as he walked away.

Mike grimaced, hoping Fritz was alright. He knew his sister wasn't exactly the kindest person, especially if she perceived someone as getting in the way of what she was doing. He hoped that Morganna was done with the band as he looked at the clock, there wasn't much time left before midnight and he… well he wanted to talk to Foxy. He had adequate reason to believe the fox, and perhaps the band as well, remembered what they had done the night before, but was unable to stop themselves. Foxy already had a low opinion of himself, if he thought it was his fault that Morganna got hurt- well he wouldn't let that happen.

* * *

**AN :: I'm a little late again. Sorry everyone! Hopefully my block will disappear soon. u.u Anyways, another chapter out sorry it's a little dry again. The next chapter will be a bit more exciting for sure though! Thank you so much for reading as always! Like I've said before, hearing from you guys and seeing all of you favourite and follow this story makes me so very happy and I appreciate your support like no other! **

**For those still interested, information regarding the characters and timeline of this AU is still being written up and will be posted sometime in the next two weeks. Sorry for the delay! I've mainly been just working on this chapter while accidently marathoning Supernatural. u.u**

**On another note, I'm working on some one-shots with characters from this story as well, to work off my writers block mainly. If you'd like to see anything in particular, please feel free to PM or review a suggestion. To the one Guest, I'm still working on that one-shot for you, but it should be finished relatively soon! **

**Thank you all again for reading. I truly hope you continue to enjoy this story! As always have a wonderful day or night!**


	21. Nightly Thoughts

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

Foxy knew something was very wrong with him when he found he couldn't move at all. He could vaguely see through the darkness of Pirates Cove, but he couldn't even turn on his low light vision mode. If he'd been human he would be panicking, hyperventilating as a matter of fact. As it was, all he could do was try to access his own systems and see what was wrong.

A few minutes of trying lead to nothing, so he tried to bring up the memory of what had happened the last time he'd been online. It was short, just a minute of darkness and footsteps before his memory cut off abnormally. Someone had come to the cove and it had been during the day and whoever it had been had done something to him, messed with his programming, perhaps his hardware too since he was still conscious and without any control of his own body.

He felt himself move, staring out of the curtains like he would if it was the- he paused, suddenly realising what was happening. Whoever had come to the cove had done something to him and it wasn't hard to know who had done so. The person who was after Mike and Morganna was making a move, turning the animatronics against their friends again. The man he'd bit, the man that had tried to hurt his mateys.

In that moment he felt a deep regret, regret he hadn't killed that man. Regret and anger that he couldn't do anything, couldn't warn either of the twins what was happening if they hadn't realised already. What if they hadn't? The others presumably were in a similar state to him, what if the twins came in late… or never went back to the security office?

A deep worry settled itself into his processor, but he tried not to think about it, focusing on trying to regain control of himself somehow. He attempted to will himself to move back into the cove, tried everything from imagining he was in control again to actually trying to shut himself down, but nothing worked and so he stepped out from behind the curtains unable to stop himself. He saw the camera flash on and he didn't move, it seemed that the cameras were still preventing him from getting ready to run and he felt a bit of relief that at least the rules they'd set were still in place. He wasn't sure if both of the twins were there, but it was a relief to know that at least one of them was safe and seemed to know what was going on.

The small red light of the camera flash on a few times, but still Foxy felt his body move, ready to run before actually doing so. Another few minutes and he was running, despite the fact that the camera was checked. He felt confused before concern took over, he could see the open door. He wanted to stay something, to make more noise so they could hear him.

"Foxy's out! Close the left door!"

He rammed into the door as it closed, banging on it a few times, though his thoughts were wrapped around the fact that both Mike and Morganna had to be alright, since Mike had directed someone to close the door. They were alright, they knew what was going on, and they weren't giving up. It was clear that it was going to be difficult, as he walked back to the cove, he saw both Bonnie and Chica heading towards the office.

The twins weren't giving up, Mike seemed like he remembered the patterns, which was a good thing. With the both of them there, Foxy dared to hope that he wouldn't hurt his mateys against his will that night. Sure it was going to be difficult, for Foxy and the twins, but if the twins were fighting, then so would he.

The night proceeded and he managed to somehow hold himself back, at least he thought he was doing so if the first quick run was anything to go by. Still, as six o'clock neared, he could feel himself moving, getting ready to run before he finally did so. After banging on the door he returned to Pirates Cove, unable to stop himself as he looked up at the camera to see it still off.

His body turned and ran again, not heeding any kind of command he gave it. He even tried to force his system to shut down and nothing happened. The door closed, but he could tell that it was it. His second run had drained too much power, there wasn't any way for them to-

His thoughts cut off with the power and he froze in the hallway, only moving when Freddy lumbered past him, heavy metal footsteps clanging on the floor. He stood there, unmoving as he heard the Troubadour March play so merrily from his friend. Heard the twins and Freddy speak, but only heard them through a muffled roar.

If he'd been in control and able to, he'd cry. Foxy felt things the others often didn't; worry, sadness, and anger. Negative emotions that he remembered he was told to ignore back when he'd brought it up to Fazenbaker so long ago. Still, even feeling those emotions, he'd never felt the actual want to cry, to be able to cry even. Sure when he found out about all the guards they'd killed in the past, he'd felt upset and saddened, but he didn't know them. He knew Mike and Morganna, loved them like family and to hurt them- it was more upsetting and painful than anything he'd ever previously experienced.

He stood there, motionless and waiting for Freddy to bring the two out. Unable to control himself as he was, he knew that he'd be helping stuff them into suits, watching them die. He morbidly wondered if they others were as captive in their own programing as he was, unable to act himself and just watching.

A few moments later, instead of Freddy coming out of the dark office, he saw the twins running. How they got past Freddy, he didn't know, but they did. He cursed himself as he moved to stop them.

"We-were do ya-ya tink you-you're g-going ma-matey? Y-yer suits a-are all rea-ready," he said, his voice glitching. He could only wonder if it was a result of him wanting to stop, or if it was because of whatever was done to him.

He watched as Morganna grabbed Mikey, running past him. He reached out towards her, praying that she got past. She shoved him underneath one of the party room tables and told him to run before distracting Freddy and himself. She was good and he felt a small bit of relief every time she dodged a grab, or slash of his hook, until he saw Chica and Bonnie. Together they grabbed her, pulling her into the back room.

All the while Freddy spoke, his voice even stranger than Foxy's had been. The things he was saying were strange too and the fox couldn't help but wonder what had been done to his friend to cause such strange glitching. Still- regardless of Freddy's strange dialogue himself and the others kept Morganna captive, readying her to be fitted with a suit.

Freddy chose an arm piece first, shoving the woman's arm into it harshly. If Foxy could have, he would have at least closed his eyes. Watching the look of pain on her face as she screamed was… it was horrifying. His vision wavered and all he could see was her younger self, staring at him with fear and betrayal in her eyes.

He could hear Mike at the door, pounding on it at first. Foxy prayed he woudn't come in, but as with all of Foxy's wishes, the prayer wasn't heard. Mike stepped forward, distracting Freddy enough that he dropped what he was doing and turned to look at him. Foxy watched as the bear took a moment before stepping towards Mike, grabbing him.

Just the other night they had sworn to protect the twins, had so foolishly believed that they could help. But all he ever brought was ruin, he deserved to rot away, forgotten. It was only when that thought passed through his processor that everything went black.

* * *

Coming back into a sort of consciousness was not as quick as it should have been Foxy noted, vaguely remembering a hard shut down of his systems. It took another moment before he recalled the previous evening's events and realised that he still couldn't control himself. What had brought him online? He didn't have to wait long for his answer as Mike walked towards him after having turned on the lights.

"A-A-Ahh-hoy t-th-there ma-maatey, wel-welcome t-ta pi-pirates co-co-co-cove," he said, surprised that anything came out at all. He wanted to tell Mike to stay away, get back from him, that he couldn't control himself. Still, something coming out was better than nothing, even if it was the programmed show intro.

He realised his body was jerkily moving, it felt like he was going to get up and he didn't want that. Foxy knew that he was fast; if he was up and about… he wasn't sure what he'd do in the state he was in. It wasn't midnight though, so maybe he wouldn't hurt anyone? It was a hope, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Foxy? Are you alright? Do you… do you remember me?" Mike said, cautiously moving closer towards him. Foxy wanted to growl, to yell at the man to get back. He didn't want to hurt him, he'd already hurt Morganna.

"St-st-sto-op," Foxy managed to get out. It wasn't intimidating, but it was better than letting the man come near. He could only hope that the man would listen as he tried to get out more of a warning. "St-st-a-ay a-a-a wh- co-come ba-back ta-ta- th-the-"

It was all he could do to say those words and he knew they weren't much. Still, Mike had stopped coming towards him, pausing and looking perplexed until his eyes lit up. Foxy felt relief, the jerky movement of his limbs calming down as the weight was lifted from him at the moment that Mike stepped back from him.

"I'll be back Foxy. Me and Morg, we'll fix you," the man said with conviction before leaving the curtained area.

The fox in question felt his body slump against the wooden ship model again. He was happy that Mike had listened to him, kept away, but that wasn't the only reason he was happy. If he was being honest with himself, he was happy that the man hadn't condemned him; that he seemed to understand that Foxy and the others hadn't any control over themselves.

It felt… wrong though, to be happy for such a small thing. Mike and Morganna… they should both hate them, hate him, for what they did. Mike had even more of a reason, since he'd been the target of their game the first two days and then the night before. Then there was the fact that they really had hurt Morganna, made her scream, he saw how much pain she was in.

Still, it was the twin's decision to forgive them or not. They didn't need to know about the blame he was putting on himself, especially so if they did forgive him, them. He had to be better, had to be stronger, he had to be just- more. He'd already failed his little mateys once, when they were children, this was a new failure to add to his record. He would rather be destroyed than to let something like this happen again.

So lost in the thoughts running through his processor, he almost didn't notice when the curtains were pushed back to let two people into the cove. Seeing Morganna he looked at her arm, his head lowering slightly in response to the immense amount of guilt that flooded through him. He watched as they both cautiously approached him, moving slowly.

"Hey there Foxy, you in there?" Morganna asked, setting down a bag nearby with a heavy clunk.

"A-A-Ay-ye," He managed to get out.

"He talked to me earlier too, though it was all dialogue from his show," Mike said, looking directly into Foxy's eyes a bit sadly. "Whatever _he_ did to them didn't affect them during the day. It's not midnight yet, so he's not hostile, but he's still affected by whatever was done so he can't fully control himself. Or at least that's what I came up with for an explanation."

"Not bad deducing Mikey.I was thinking something along those lines," she replied, pulling out a screw driver from her bag. "Now Foxy, I'm going to need to go into your control panel. Mike's setting up my computer to hook up into you. I'm actually going to fully shut you down while we fix everything, alright?"

Foxy stared at her a moment before looking over at Mikey, watching him plug different wires into different ports on the thing. He looked back at her, a jerky nod was the only answer he could give, finding himself unable to speak again.

"Alright, don't worry Foxy it won't take long," she said assuredly, moving him away from the Ship model a bit while she fumbled with the zipper to his suit. Finally she got it unzipped and started taking screws out of the panel. He thought about the day she'd threatened him, how she fixed his jaw. It was nice, back then, to be taken care of after so long, even with the threats. Now he knew better though, knew that he wasn't worth it, not after all the pain he had brought.

Mike seemed to think that he was worth something. He told Morganna to fix him, even after those first two nights. He cleaned the cove, cleaned up Foxy himself, wanted to help him. Foxy didn't know how his little matey hadn't realised that he… well he just wasn't worth the effort. The fox had made mistakes, plenty of them, starting with the bite of '87, but maybe that had been the first big one.

Still, if the twins wanted to fix him, wanted to keep him around… then he'd be grateful. It seemed that they did, based on the fact that here they were, fixing him, again. His last thought before Morganna turned him off was that he'd keep good on his word from then on; he'd keep the twins safe even if it destroyed him in the process.

* * *

**AN :: Sorry about the shortness of this chapter guys! I'm still having a little trouble with my block, but since I'm writing some other things too I've been managing. The only bad thing is that this part actually ended up being too long. I decided just to post it as a stand alone chapter for you guys to read. But hey more Foxy is a good thing, right? Mikey will cheer him up soon with his general awkward adorableness. Anyways the next chapter is about halfway finished and since I've been late with updates I'll post it asap! Thank you all so much for reading. I've said before and I'll say it again, I really, really appreciate all of your support everyone! Each favourite, follow, review, and PM really makes my day and keeps me going! So really thank you! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and you'll continue enjoying the story!**

**For anyone still wondering, I'm still working on creating a blog for information regarding my AU and this story, it's just been a bit slow going with my block and general busyness/distractions(stupidgamesdistractingme). Oneshots are still in progress as well, but at least one will be up soon! Thank you all for your patience with me. As always I hope your day or night is a wonderful one!**


	22. Dawn of Forgiveness

**Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.**

It was very near to midnight when Morganna finally finished fixing up Foxy. She'd discovered that similar to the other animatronics his wiring had been messed with on top of the same lines of corrupted code within his program. Truthfully she wasn't sure what to think about it, considering that major knowledge of the animatronics would be needed to mess with them as badly as they'd had been.

If she was again, being truthful, she'd also admit that she had no idea if she'd managed to fix them. It wasn't like she knew exactly how they were made up, nor anything really about how they were programmed, she just recognised corrupted code when she saw it. That and she could see where wires had been crossed and moved. If she was honest with herself, she was scared, scared that she wasn't able to fix them, that they would come after them again tonight, that her family would forever be in the state where they couldn't control themselves.

As it was, she pushed those thoughts from her mind, instead rubbing at her face tiredly with a sigh on her lips, uncaring at the fact that she was spreading oil and dirt all over herself. Morganna pretended that she was unafraid and almost unfeeling entirely. She prided herself on the fact that only Mike brought out an actual true emotional response. Her friends? She didn't trust them, could do without them, didn't really care about them too much. Her family? Well with dead parents and no relatives so to speak, her only family was Mike. The animatronics were family too, but she didn't trust that they wouldn't be ripped away from her… though she did care for them; which might be why she felt so stressed, worried, and afraid.

Mike watched her in concern, knowing that she must have a headache forming by how she was acting. He hoped that wasn't the case, seeing as he knew her response would be to shut down after lashing out at the nearest person. Considering the fact that they had a long night ahead of him, he'd rather not have that happen.

"Are you alright?" He asked quietly, voice conveying the concern he felt.

"Yeah, just frustrated," she lied easily with a shake of her head.

"You almost done? We should probably start the night back in the office, just in case he shows up," Mike said, his voice betraying his anxiety and fear.

Morganna nodded distractedly as she switched Foxy back on and picked up the metal panel to close him up. It would take a few minutes for his systems to boot back up at least, considering that he was pretty old tech with no real maintenance done on him. The thought was saddening, but she didn't let herself linger on it as she turned her brother.

"Yeah, almost done I'm just going to finish up here. You go back to the office, I'll be done soon," she said, waving him off.

"Alright, just- be quick alright?" He said with a sigh before leaving and heading towards the office.

Upon entering the office he sat in the only, slightly beaten up chair. Pulling the tablet to himself he flipped between the camera's making sure that there wasn't anyone else in the building with them. As it neared closer to midnight he checked Pirates Cove, waiting to see his sister leaving the area. He bit his lip as he realised that there was maybe two minutes before midnight. He considered running out to get her before she emerged from behind the curtains.

With a sigh of relief he watched as she hurried down the east hallway, entering the room on the stroke of midnight, a faint noise sounding as the building switched off of main power to the amount generated for each night.

"You sure cut it close," he mentioned, turning the view onto the stage to see when the band would start moving.

"Yeah sorry, I wanted to make sure all my stuff was out of the way," she said with a shrug.

Morganna leaned over his chair, watching the screen as well. A few minutes past and still there wasn't any movement from the animatronics. She bit her lip, wondering when they were going to move, if she'd fixed them. Anxiety wasn't something she felt all too often, but that's all she felt in that moment.

"Mikey, I know you made me promise not to but… if I screwed up, please run. Please run and live your life if it comes to it," she said suddenly.

Mike froze, tilting his head back to see her face. It was clear to him how anxious and doubt ridden she was. She always portrayed herself as confident, even overly so at times, but he knew what she truly was. She was riddled with doubt all the time, being pessimistic did that to a person.

"Morg, I won't run," Mike said simply, glancing back to the screen and flipping to Pirates Cove to see if Foxy was peering out.

"Mikey- you can't stay," she said with a shake of her head. "If I get caught then-"

"Can't stay? You can't stop me from staying. If you get caught then I'll be caught too, because I'm not leaving you no matter what," he replied with a snap, looking back at her directly in the eyes.

Morganna's eyes widened, surprised at how much conviction she could hear within his voice. It was rare for him to stand up for anything against anyone, let alone her. She knew that he wasn't the most aggressive person in the world and often just went with the flow, did what others told him to do, but above that he normally listened to her. He rarely told her no, so to hear him deny her what she wanted was a little shocking. In a way she was proud, but she wish he'd said it to something else.

Still, even though he often went with what others wanted and did what others wanted him to do, he was stubborn. She knew that nothing she could say would change his mind, so she stayed silent and just let out another sigh. The only thing she could hope was that he wouldn't be stupid, that he'd run if there wasn't any way for them both to get out. Still, though she doubted it, she hoped she fixed their family and there wouldn't be anything to worry about.

"Morg, you knew what you were doing. There isn't any way you didn't fix them," he said as if reading her mind. "It'll be alright."

She stared at him, wondering when he started to know exactly what to say to get her to calm down. Having grown tense enough to dig her nails into the worn chair, she relaxed at his words, nearly smiling even.

"… Thanks Mikey," she said before turning her attention back to the tablet still in his hands. "Huh? What are they…"

Mike turned his attention back to the screen, staring in confusion as he watched Bonnie step threateningly towards Freddy. Chica stood to the side, unmoving but clearly conscious since she'd left the spot she originally was in at the beginning of the night. Foxy wasn't anywhere to be seen just yet.

"I… don't know. It looks like their fighting maybe," Mike said, pursing his lips.

"Do you think they're back to themselves?" She asked, still staring at the screen in confusion.

"I mean… they didn't come after us and… oh there's Foxy," he said after switching to Pirates Cove. The fox was walking from the cove to the stage quickly. That didn't happen during the nights they were after him, Foxy never broke from the steps he took. "I think they are back to themselves, Foxy never left the cove when he was after me those first few nights nor last night."

They both watched in silence as the fox entered into the fray between Freddy, though not to defend the bear, but to attack him as well. They couldn't hear what was being said, the volume on the small tablet too weak to pick up much in the large room. Mike put the tablet back onto the desk and stood up.

"I don't know what they're fighting about, but we should probably break it up," he said, concern lacing his voice clearly.

"Yeah, probably. Do you- do you think they remember everything?" She asked, dreading the answer would be yes. They obviously remembered some of the previous night, but she had hoped it was only bits a pieces.

"I don't know," Mike said, shaking his head. "But we're sure to find out. Come one, we should probably stop them from ripping Freddy apart. He obviously kept something from us, but he's still…"

"Yeah, alright," she replied quickly, following him down the hallway.

* * *

"What do you mean you don't remember? How can't you-" Bonnie growled out, cutting himself off as he stepped closer to the bear, glowering at him even. "How can't you remember what we did?"

"I-I don't-" Freddy began, stepping back. He was confused, beyond confused even, by his friend's behaviour. He wasn't even aware of his memory lapse yet, though he knew something was very wrong.

Chica stood off to the side, not saying anything, which also worried him considering that she was the mother hen of their group so to speak. They all had parental instincts, being programmed to interact with children, but Chica was the one to nip fighting amongst themselves in the bud. The fact that she was doing nothing was frightening.

Freddy turned back to Bonnie, trying to remain calm despite the fact that the look in the rabbit's eyes was rather unsettling. It almost looked like the other wanted to rip him apart. "Bonnie, why don't you tell me what-"

"You don't remember?" Foxy had arrived then, asking the same question he didn't know the answer to. He didn't know what he could have forgotten.

"Remember what? Why don't you-"

They were the wrong words. The fox lifted himself up onto the stage taking several threatening steps towards him. With both Foxy and Bonnie there they had him cornered, and they were actually starting to frighten him deeply.

"How can't you remember what we did to them? Her face when- How can't you remember?" Foxy sputtered out harshly.

Freddy could only shake his head, still not knowing what to think. "I really don't know what you're talking about… I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Just sorry-" Foxy was getting closer to him and Bonnie was doing the same until Chica reached out towards him, putting her feathered hand on his shoulder and shaking her head.

She remained quiet; she knew she'd be unable to get out any words at that moment. When they'd first come back online she felt normal. Bonnie had started twitching, a system overload happening for some reason and she helped him through it before anything came back to her.

Then, suddenly, the whole night came flooding back to her. The terrified faces of the twins as she showed up at the window, the moment she and the others forcefully cornered Morganna, and most of all the scream that they'd forced from her. Chica felt terrible, but she couldn't have been more glad that she didn't have the image imprinted on her memory disk of Morganna's face at that moment, since she'd been too busy watching the door and thinking of ways to stuff Mike while she held the endo they'd caught down.

Even not seeing how much pain they'd caused one of their children, she still heard it, the agony that Morganna had gone through. It was their faults, how could they not have realised that they were attacking their children? How could the glitch have taken so much control over them?

She had no answers, but it was strange that Freddy didn't remember any of the night. After Bonnie came back online after his system overload, he went on a rampage, asking the same question Chica was thinking. They were fighting, but for once she didn't want to do or say anything

As a matter of fact she felt nothing at all. Numbly she realised quite quickly that the twins would probably not be coming back to the pizzeria after what they'd done. So what if they didn't kill them, they hurt one and scarred them both mentally at the very least. Heck she wouldn't want to be around herself if she had the choice not to be.

Still, they were there, and they had to talk about what had happened. So she reached out to Bonnie, shaking her head. They could fight all they wanted, but the fact that Freddy didn't remember the previous night wasn't going to change. All they could do was attempt to salvage peace, they only had a short time left together after all and who knew what would happen to them when the pizzeria shut down. Most likely they'd be scrapped, dead in all sense of their beings, so she'd rather have a few days of melancholy and grief filled peace than days of arguing and yelling at one another.

Bonnie looked back at her, shoulders slumping as he realised how he was behaving. He was angry, mostly because he was mad at himself, mad at how weak he was. He never wanted to hurt anyone, hated seeing the children get hurt even when it was something as small as a paper cut. Seeing someone he liked hurt, someone he considered to be his family, and it was because of them no less… it made him angry. His anger was directed at himself, at the others, at the world even. He wanted someone to blame and Freddy not remembering that terrible moment seemed like the perfect place for that blame.

He knew it was wrong of him, but he wanted to believe for a moment that it might not be his fault. Freddy always hidden stuff from them, information mostly that he thought would hurt them. Even so, Bonnie always felt like the bear was too secretive, that he was hiding something big. Why Freddy didn't remember the previous night was unknown, but it was highly strange.

Still he stopped, calmed by Chica at the moment while Foxy went off on the bear. He was still in shock about the memories that had flooded through his processor when he'd come online. Selfishly he wished that he'd been in control of himself, even if the others weren't. He wished he could have protected the twins, even at the cost of his own circuitry and synthetic life. Now though, now they'd never return and it was all their own faults.

"What secrets have you been-" Foxy had begun to say, before they paused, footsteps being heard on the tile floor in the otherwise silent building. Foxy fell silent, and the others turned to see Mike and Morganna entering the party room.

There was a brief moment of utter silence, only the sound of a gentle electrical hum filling the air. No one moved for a moment before Chica finally stepped forward.

"You- your still here?" She asked, her voice coming out quietly but it was nearly booming in the quiet of the pizzeria.

Neither twin said anything at first, shocked by the pain and sorrow they could hear within Chica's voice. Mike took a step towards them, Morganna following suit until they were stopped.

"Don't- don't come any closer. Why are you still here? We- we're monsters," the chicken said, sounding lost.

"You aren't-" Morganna had begun before Bonnie cut her off.

"Chica's right, we are. You should just- you should leave. Or at least go back to the security office just in case-"

"What do you remember about last night?" Mike asked, cutting the rabbit off. It was clear they remembered something, even if they hadn't been in control, but he really hoped they didn't remember anything.

"We remember everything lad. Or at least, Bonnie, Chica, and I do. Freddy doesn't remember anything," the pirate answered.

Mike rose an eyebrow at that fact, looking at the bear in question. It was clear that Freddy was confused, especially once he saw the splint on Morganna's arm. It was then that realisation dawned on him.

"We hurt her. We hurt you, didn't we Morganna," he stated, the looks he received clarified the statement for him.

"You didn't mean to," she said, looking at them directly.

"We- I- I'm so sorry Morganna, I couldn't- none of us could control ourselves and-"

"I know that," she said cutting Bonnie off and shaking her head. "It wasn't anyone's fault but the one that messed with you."

"What?" Freddy asked, eyes wide. "It wasn't just a malfunction?"

Mike shook his head in answer. "No it was that man, the one that has been watching us, he messed with your systems. We didn't know until it was midnight, so there was nothing we could do then. Morganna took a look at you a few hours ago and fixed everything she could find that was wrong."

"Even after- even after what we did?" Chica asked, her voice shaky still full of emotion.

"We told you, you are our family. You didn't mean any of what happen and we know you wouldn't hurt us if you had a choice," Morganna replied. "Yeah, having my arm shoved into part of a suit hurt like hell, but I'm alive. I'm alive and you couldn't control yourself. So if you need forgiveness, then I forgive you, but it wasn't any of your faults."

"What about you Mike? Do you- do you forgive us?" Chica asked softly as if expecting him to say no. She knew how badly they scared him on those first few nights, the panic attacks he had afterwards, and she remembered how tense he was around them at first as well. It seemed unlikely to her that he would ever forgive them for what they'd done.

"Chica, of course I forgive you, all of you. Like Morganna said, it wasn't your fault and I'm fine," he said gently, knowing how upset the animatronics all were.

"Are you- are you sure? After what we did to you, even before last night-"

"Chica, you didn't even know I was human, let alone someone you knew those first few nights. And last night- last night someone messed with you, making you unable to control yourselves even. In both instances, things were out of your control. I don't blame you at all," he reiterated stepping towards the yellow chicken slowly.

Chica let out a soft noise before rushing forward and pulling the grown man into her arms, hugging him tightly before moving one of her arms open and looking towards Moganna with a questioning look.

With a sigh the woman shook her head and walked into the embrace. She stayed for a minute before pulling back and looking at Bonnie. The rabbit looked at her, ears drooped, half expecting to be scolded for not being stronger or outright yelled at. Chica hadn't been the one to put her into place and hold down her arms before Freddy had started to shove one of them into part of the suit.

He was surprised when she willingly embraced him. Standing there for a moment he let out a strangled sound as he hugged back. He hadn't expected to be forgiven, hadn't expected to see either of the twins again.

"Bonnie, you couldn't have done anything. It wasn't your fault," she said quietly so only he could hear. Had he the capability, his eyes would have misted over in tears at the statement. How she read exactly what he was thinking, he didn't know, but he was grateful. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of his consciousness.

She pulled back and gave him a smile before looking over and seeing that Mike had moved on from hugging Chica to hugging Foxy and repeating similar words to the fox. Unlike Bonnie and Chica though, he said nothing. It was clear to both of them that he either didn't believe that they forgave him or didn't believe that he should be forgiven.

Either way Mike wasn't sure what else to say. Instead he pulled the fox's good hand into his own and gave him a small smile.

"You may not believe me Foxy, but I really do forgive you for everything," he said quietly. "You've helped me through so much, even when we had moved the thought of you- the thought of your advice, it's helped me through so much. I've never forgotten you, even when we've been apart for so long, because you were- are so important to me."

Foxy stared at him a moment before his mouth moved to form a slight smile. Suddenly all the anger he felt, the self-loathing, even the depressing thoughts that lingered in his processor, all of those negative emotions he'd been felling vanished at that moment. To be told after so long that he was important was amazing, but being told that by someone he cared about was more than he could ever have hoped.

He knew that he'd done wrong; that he'd messed up more times that he could count. The fact he couldn't' control himself the night before had been another failure in his eyes, another addition to a long list of them in fact. Still, the twins had fixed him, and judging by Mike's words, at least one of them had faith in him, saw something of value. He just had to prove their faith was well placed, though he didn't know how to at that moment he was sure he could do something. He'd not forgotten his promise to himself, the promise to keep the twins safe.

"Thank ye lad," he said quietly, squeezing the man's hand gently before letting it fall away.

"Are you sure you're alright Foxy?" He asked in concern, knowing that the pirate's mental state so to speak wasn't exactly in the best place. Foxy probably didn't realise that robot or not, he was an open book to Mike at the very least.

The fox nodded simply before turning his attention back to Freddy, who'd been quiet during all of the exchanges of hugs. He seemed to be lost in thought, but it was clear that he was troubled.

"Freddy? Are ye alright there?" Foxy asked, tentatively. He wasn't sure if the bear was angry at him for nearly attacking him.

The twins and other animatronics turned to the bear questioningly. Freddy remained silent still before shaking his head.

"No matter how hard I try to recover my lost memory banks, they remain unfound, not even corrupted," he said with a frown.

"I went through your core programming Freddy, including your memory banks and I didn't find any lines of corrupted code there. Though there were a few in the sections for how your optics function," Morganna said, volunteering the little information that she knew.

The animatronics looked at her then, all with questioning looks on their faces.

"What?"

"You were able to gain access into our core data?" Chica asked, almost looking worried.

"Well yeah. It was password protected, but easy enough to get around. Why? Should I not have gone in there?" She asked, worried that maybe she'd screwed something up.

"It shouldn't have been that easy," Freddy said simply. "But you said there were lines of corrupted code?"

"Yeah, in the same spot for all of you," she replied with a nod. "I just deleted the corrupted lines, since it was disrupting the code in your optics, possibly being what made you see us as endoskeletons in the first place."

Freddy nodded before he looked a little disturbed. "Was there anything else? Added lines to make us hostile?"

"Not that I could find. What made you hostile was possibly because a lot of your actual hardware was messed with. Different wires were plugged in to wrong ports and I'm not sure what else. I don't exactly have a manual for you guys," she said with a sigh. "I wasn't even sure I managed to fix you all at first."

"That's… I don't know what could have happened then," Freddy said with a sigh. They were at another dead end, with only more questions growing. "I still don't understand why I'm the only one not to remember last night."

"About that Freddy…" Mike started, trailing off and fidgeting.

"Do you know something Michael?"

"You uh, it was kind of impossible but umm," Mike couldn't even get out the words, it was just too surreal, he felt like he'd imagined the whole exchange.

"Freddy, it seemed like you were possessed last night," Morganna said bluntly when it was clear that Mike wasn't going to get it out clearly.

"Possessed?" Freddy asked, seemingly perplexed, though she could tell it wasn't as genuine as it appeared.

"Yes, possessed. You know, by ghosts of maybe the children that were murdered here?" She suggested, trying to back him in a corner to get him to explain whatever he could, because it was clear that he knew something.

"Freddy… what is she talking about?" Chica asked, confused by the sudden subject of the supernatural.

"I- it's a long story," Freddy said, sounding defeated.

"We have four hours left in the night," Morganna pointed out.

"I- alright. It's about time you all knew I guess," he said with a shake of his head. "It happened back at the old restaurant, started before either of you were created yet…"

* * *

**AN :: I am so sorry for getting this to you guys so late this time! I had the misfortune of losing all of this chapter when it was just about finished the other week because of an automatic windows update happening when I left my computer to get something to eat and I hadn't saved yet so all my work was lost. I was pretty upset for a while so I had to take a step back and cool down for a while. I ended up working on a few other things and starting up an original story and getting a little wrapped up in that, but afterwards I came back to this and finally was able to write something without feeling angry about losing all that work. I hope to get out the next chapter much sooner, within the next week or so at least. Thanks so much for being patient with me everyone!**

**As always I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know not much is happening yet, but it's going to pick up soon! Thank you so much for all of your lovely reviews and pms! I really do appreciate them. It means the world to me to hear that some of you are being inspired to write yourselves! I know I'm certainly not the best writer out there, but to hear that you like my writing really makes me very happy. Thanks again for taking the time to review! Thank you also to those who favourite/follow, I really hope you continue to enjoy the story! Have a wonderful day or night everyone!**


	23. Author's Note

Hello Everyone!

It's been quite a while, hasn't it? I'm afraid to say that I took a long while away from writing and only started up writing again in November and it was for the show Gravity Falls, which really pulled me in for some reason. I've been operating primarily on AO3 under the name Eiris. Lately I've been getting a lot of reviews here mentioning how much they liked the story and how much they'd love to see it continued and I've decided that I will go ahead and continue the story sometime soon! I'm not guaranteeing that it will be this week, or even next week, but I'll try posting a chapter by the end of the month at least. (I do have my old notes and some things written thankfully, so I'm hoping it shouldn't be too hard to pick it back up again.) Upon a new chapter being posted, this author's note will be deleted. Thank you all so much for the support! It's because of everyone that really wants to see this work finished that I'm choosing to continue, and I really hope that you all enjoy where I take the story at the end. Thank you all for reading and as always, I hope you have a wonderful day or night!


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